A 53-year-old woman is spending long agonizing days behind prison walls waiting to be sentenced for kidnapping a newborn baby 22 years ago.
She pleaded guilty to the crime and was subsequently convicted of the abduction. In her plea at the Ermelo magistrate’s court on Tuesday, she admitted that her actions were wrong.
The case was postponed to July 10 for sentencing.
The complainant had just been discharged from the hospital after giving birth in March 2001.
Monica Nyuswa, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in Mpumalanga, said: “On her way to the local taxi rank, she and her relative came across the accused who walked with them. The relative left the complainant with the accused at a nearby shop.
“The accused offered to assist the complainant by holding the baby, after realizing that she was in pain and [feeling] dizzy.”
Nyuswa said the accused took the baby and informed the complainant that she was leaving to find her relative, but disappeared with the newborn baby.
She was arrested in November 2021.
“A family member saw a profile of a grown-up child on social media who resembled the features of the victim’s family,” said Nyuswa. “A DNA test was conducted and positively linked the child with her biological mother.”
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