A taxi driver will appear in the Alexandra Magistrates’ Court on a charge of child stealing.
Alexandra Police Station spokesperson Captain Stephen Malatji said the man, after an alleged fallout with his girlfriend, took the 12-year-old daughter of his lover’s relative on 23 November in Alex. He was arrested the next day near Jeppe Police Station by a search party of police investigators and snipers. According to the police because the child knew the man and was not forcibly taken, the charge was one of child stealing and not kidnapping.
“The child who is mentally challenged and is used to the accused, was in his vehicle when he drove off with her as bait to getting the woman back. This after the woman ended their relationship,” added Malatji. He said after the man drove off with the child, the woman and her relatives contacted the accused and he demanded that his girlfriend reinstate their relationship as a condition for the return of the child. He arranged to meet them at a local garage to exchange the child if she agreed to the condition but he didn’t pitch up.
After looking for him in vain at other garages, the matter was reported by the relatives to the police resulting in a wider search. Police tracked his movement using signals from his phone and traced him to a hostel in Denver where he stayed.
He handed over the child without any incident and was arrested.
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