TWO women from Hluhluwe appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday charged with defeating the ends of justice by conspiring to extort maintenance money by tricking a man into believing he had fathered a child.
The accused were arrested in Hluhluwe by Durban Central Family Violence Child Protection Unit last Friday.
Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said the arrest emanated from the investigation of a child that was reported to have been stolen in Durban Central on Saturday, 14 December last year.
‘It is alleged that on this date, a mother and her friend took a taxi from Hluhluwe area to Durban. When they arrived at YMCA Taxi Rank, the mother had a six month-old baby and her friend had a one-year-old son with her.
‘They had planned the trip together in order to open a false case, since the father was waiting to see his one-year-old son for the first time – not knowing that there was no son. In Durban, the woman decided to report the child as stolen rather than showing the man her friend’s child.
‘Further investigation revealed that the child who was reportedly stolen was not the victim’s child, but her friend’s son,’ she said.
Mbhele added that the investigating officer decided to travel from Durban to Hluhluwe.
‘When he arrived there, he found that the child who had been reported stolen was in fact, at her friend’s homestead.
‘Both mothers were arrested and made a brief court appearance on Monday.
‘They were both remanded in police custody for further investigation and are expected to re-appear at the same court next Monday for a formal bail application,’ Mbhele said.
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