Katlehong missing girl returns home safe
According to the family their daughter was kidnapped on the evening of January 20.
The 13-year-old Mamello Mokoena from Tsholo Section, Katlehong, was reunited with her despondent family on March 20 after allegedly being kidnapped for 60 days.
Upon returning home, police took Mokoena to Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital for medical evaluation and arranged for her to receive trauma counselling.
Her father, Mokgele Mokoena, was at work on March 20 when he received a call informing him that his daughter had returned. He said he immediately knocked off and when he arrived home; the police had taken Mamello to the hospital for evaluation.
Mamello went missing went missing on the evening of January 20 after going out with her 19-year-old next-door friend who fetched her at home in the afternoon.
According to Mokoena, her daughter told him she was kidnapped and taken to Germiston. She took the family to the building, where she was forcefully kept.
He said Mamello told him that before she was kidnapped, she saw her friend speaking to the men who were driving a Toyota Quantum.
Mokoena explained that they blindfolded her when they forced her into the vehicle; and heard how they closed the sliding door.
He further noted her abductors locked her inside a building where she met another kidnapped girl unknown to her. The pair were fed drugs and traditional medicine to keep them asleep and confuse their minds.
“They were left unattended for two days and as they were beginning to sober up, they used tools that were available to break out. After they escaped, Mamello managed to call her family to fetch her,” said Mokoena.
He said they are attempting to trace the other girl who was locked up with Mamello to make the case stronger.
Mamello started attending trauma sessions at Ekupholeni Mental Health and Trauma Centre on March 26.
After the family struggled to sleep at night for the past 60 days, not knowing where their child was, they finally got a sense of relief. However, they hope the suspects will be arrested and justice served.
“There is a mix of emotions in the family because my daughter returned and reported what had happened to the police. I do not know how police operate. Maybe this is how they investigate; because the feeling we get is, they think Mamello took herself to Germiston,” he continued.
Mokoena said the suspects were supposed to be arrested, but they understood some facts need to be checked before the police can do so.
The media liaison officer of Katlehong South SAPS Sivenkosi Mtwa confirmed that Mamello was safe with her family.
He said they were waiting for a report from social workers to confirm whether this was a kidnapping case.
ALSO READ: R10k reward offered to find missing Katlehong teen Mamello Mokoena
