Police on Thursday arrested a 28-year-old woman for perjury, defeating the ends of justice and fraud after she reported a false hijacking and kidnapping case earlier in the day at the Protea Glen police station in Soweto.
In her statement given under oath to the police, the suspect described how on Wednesday evening, 19 May, her vehicle was taken by unknown men in Mohlakeng, Randfontein who put her inside the boot and drove around with her for the better part of the evening.
A team under the leadership of Major General Fred Kekana, the West Rand District police commissioner comprising of senior detectives, members of crime intelligence and other police response units, that worked throughout the night to locate the “hijacked woman” swiftly established discrepancies in the supposed victim’s statement.
It emerged on a further probe that the said hijacking and kidnapping report was false and this was subsequently corroborated by the woman’s confession that she was never kidnapped. Police confiscated the vehicle of the suspect that she alleged was hijacked and her two cellphones, including the one she claimed was taken by the “hijackers”
An immediate arrest was effected on which the suspect is expected to appear before the Protea Magistrate Court on Friday, 21 May.
Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, the Gauteng Police commissioner, welcomed the arrest and commended the arresting and investigating teams who through paying attention to detail, were able to swiftly poke holes in the woman’s false report.
After police from different provinces including Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the North West noted a string of social media posts about the said kidnapping and hijacking, an urgent search party was activated and maximum resources mobilised to track the vehicle and find the “victim”.
While at this stage the motive behind this alleged fabrication is unclear, this is something that should be condemned as mischievous and malicious given the time and resources that were promptly deployed as soon as police learnt of this supposed hijacking and kidnapping. Members of the public are cautioned to refrain from reporting false cases pushing police to deploy resources that should rather be channeled at combating genuine serious and violent crimes,” warned Lieutenant General Mawela.
