Africa-Press – South-Africa. A woman has been arrested after she allegedly disappeared with a four-day-old baby boy and tried to register him as her own child at a public hospital.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health said the woman, in her early 20s, had approached the baby’s mother in the Mtubatuba town centre earlier this week.
She had asked if she could make an urgent call from the young mother’s cellphone. However, the phone had no airtime.
“The woman then gave the mother some money and offered to hold her baby, while sending the mother to get airtime. The mother, who is in her early 20s, duly complied,” said Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane on Saturday.
But when the mother returned, the woman had disappeared with the infant.
Simelane said the panic-stricken mother immediately reported the matter to the police and also wrote about her ordeal on Facebook.
She said:
However, when the nurses in the outpatient and maternity departments questioned her about the baby and the circumstances surrounding his birth, it soon became apparent that her story was sketchy.
She was asked to return to the facility where she had delivered the baby, and hospital management subsequently contacted the police to ascertain that a case of a stolen baby had been registered.
The next day the woman returned to Hlabisa Hospital.
Two women arrested for allegedly snatching baby from shopping trolley in Gqeberha
“As staff pretended to assist her, while deliberately delaying the administrative process, they surreptitiously called the police, who arrived shortly thereafter, along with the baby’s real mother,” Simelane said.
The hospital revealed that there were no signs that the woman had recently been pregnant or had given birth.
When the police arrived, the woman was still wearing the same clothes as the day before, and the mother’s cellphone was found in her possession, which led to her arrest.
The baby is still in the hospital and under observation for a minor ailment.
Simelane commended the hospital nurses and doctors for their vigilance in having the baby reunited with his mother, and for having the alleged baby thief brought to book.
She also urged mothers to be extra cautious with their children.
“You can’t just give your baby to a stranger in town, and say, ‘Please hold my baby, I’m going into the store.’ A baby isn’t like a bag or object, and must be with you at all times as the mother,” she said.
“Whether you’re going into the store or to the loo, take your baby with you. Do not trust anyone, because there are many people out there who are looking for children. Some steal babies because they don’t have them; others sell them; while others murder them and sell their body parts. So, we are really pleading with mothers to look after their children, so that we can get rid of this scourge.”
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
