A MOTHER of a two-year-old was left contemplating what could-have-been after her daughter was picked up out of their trolley by a complete stranger.
The incident occurred at Cotton On at Mall of the South (MOTS) on Tuesday, July 26.
Jennylee Jordan posted a one minute and eight second long video on Facebook on Tuesday, which has since gone viral with more than 15 000 shares and over 264 000 views.
In the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, one can clearly see the layout of the clothing store. Jordan can be seen attending to what could be a payment at the cashier, while her daughter seems to be playing happily in the trolley where she is seated.
As Jordan is being attended to, the footage shows three men entering the store over a period of a few seconds. No faces can be seen and the camera focuses on one man in particular.
This man can be seen approaching Jordan’s trolley. The man then walks over to the trolley and picks up Jordan’s child.
According to the Jordan’s Facebook post, when her child did not recognise the man, she called out “mommy”. Jordan turned around as the man placed her child back into the trolley.
“At that moment this man made it seem like he was helping her sit properly in the trolley. Which seemed like it could’ve been the case because she did stand up a few times in the trolley,” read Jordan’s post on Facebook.
Jordan went on to state that she “followed her instinct and went on to investigate the matter” by looking at the CCTV footage from Cotton On.
“I went to get the camera footage this morning (Wednesday, July 27). My worst nightmare nearly came true…” she said in her post.
According to Cotton On Group Marketing Manager, Bronwen Mcconnachie, an incident took place on Tuesday, July 26, whereby an unidentified male picked up a child from a customer’s shopping trolley before placing the child back into the trolley.
“The safety of the Cotton On Group team and our customers is paramount and we will continue to work with the relevant authorities to assist with the investigation,” read the MOTS media statement.
Jordan, in her post, went on to encourage parents to “Please please watch your kiddies closely in the shops. We always think these things will never happen to us”.
Several attempts were made to contact Jennylee Jordan but the CHRONICLE received no response by the time of the paper went to print.
According to the Mondeor SAPS, no case has been opened.
Although no criminal action took place, the incident should serve as a reminder to parents of how quickly something could potentially happen.
Parents should remain vigilant when with their children at all times, especially in public places.Adults are encouraged to never leave young children alone in a public place. Although one may think the risk is small, it only takes a minute for a child to be abducted. Remember to never ask people you don’t know to ‘keep an eye’ on your children.
If you’re in a crowded place, keep children in a pram or buggy, which holds them tightly. Don’t walk for ahead of small children who can’t keep up. Remember it only takes a moment for toddlers to wander off.
As soon as children are able to understand, teach them their full name, address and telephone number. Practice these with them until you’re sure they can be helped and never leave young children in unsupervised play areas in shops or parks.
Never leave children alone in the car or outside a shop, not even for a few minutes.
In case you missed it:
WATCH: Toddler almost nabbed from trolley in mall
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