7 suspects remanded in custody for kidnapping Kriel girl

Seven kidnapping suspects, accused of snatching a 14-year-old girl from her high school in Kriel, Mpumalanga, have been remanded in custody for a formal bail application.

The seven suspects, including a 21-year-old woman, a 23-year-old man, a 35-year-old man, a 42-year-old woman, a 41-year-old woman, another 42-year-old woman, and a 33-year-old man, appeared before the Kriel Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Bail application on 14 August

The seven suspects, whose names are known to The Citizen, saw their case postponed to 14 August 2024 for a formal bail application.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi said the suspects will remain in custody.

The Citizen previously reported that the suspects were denied bail during their first appearance in court on 25 July but Sekgotodi clarified that they tried to ask for bail but the court didn’t entertain these pending issues, such as appointing lawyers.

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She said their lawyers were appointed by Friday, and they are set to do their formal bail application on the date mentioned.

Minor kidnapped from school

The suspect’s arrest is in connection with the kidnapping of a teenage girl from her Kriel high school on 22 July.

Four of the suspects, one woman and three men, had visited the school when the woman approached the premises looking for the teenager.

She allegedly called a pupil and asked her to go and call the victim, saying that her mother was sick.

“The victim came running, and they told her that they were sent to fetch her. The victim entered the vehicle, and they drove away,” Sekgotodi said.

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Victim rescued, ransom recovered

The suspects alleged that the victim’s mother owed them and demanded a R200 000 ransom in return for her daughter.

The victim’s mother, a businesswoman, only had R9 000 and was told to deposit the ransom into three bank accounts.

The suspects were eventually nabbed when their vehicle was identified in the vicinity of where they withdrew the money.

The multi-disciplinary investigation led authorities to four other suspects in Vorsloorus, Gauteng.

The teen was rescued unharmed, and the ransom money was recovered.

ALSO READ: Kidnappers who allegedly threatened to kill 14-year-old arrested in rescue mission