Woman kidnaps girl (6), demands $2000. . . Cops rescue victim from locked car

By Nqobile Tshili

A WOMAN from Kensington on the outskirts of Bulawayo has been arrested after she allegedly kidnapped a six-year-old girl before demanding a $2,000 ransom from the child’s family.

Nontokozo Moyo, 24, allegedly kidnapped the minor (name supplied), a Grade One pupil at Sihlengeni Primary School in Siphezini under Chief Sigola’s area last week on Thursday.

Moyo allegedly kidnapped the child so that she could raise $2,000 to clear a debt, but it could not be established immediately if she was known to the child’s parents before the abduction.

Police could not immediately comment on the matter yesterday.

Police sources said Moyo was arrested last Friday at 29 Brentwood Road in Matsheumhlope suburb, her boyfriend’s residence where the child was being kept.

She allegedly followed the child from school before kidnapping her.

“At about 1PM, Moyo proceeded to Sihlengeni Primary School where she monitored the activities of the child. After the child left the school she followed her to Sihlengeni Business Centre before luring her away,” said a source.

The source said after kidnapping the child, Moyo started calling the child’s uncle, Ishmael Ncube, demanding that he pays for her release.

Ncube yesterday confirmed the kidnapping and asked to be called later saying he was at a police station in Esigodini.

When reached later, he declined to comment.

However a source said: “She used her cellphone to call the child’s uncle. She demanded $2,000 for the release of the child. She even threatened the child’s guardians not to engage the police as it was going to diminish their chances of ever seeing her alive again.”

The source said Moyo held the child at her boyfriend’s garage in Matsheumhlope suburb.

“Police officers who were working on a tip-off raided the boyfriend’s house in Matsheumhlope suburb and found the child locked in a car inside the garage,” said the source.

The source said Moyo’s boyfriend (name supplied), who is a self-employed mechanic, professed ignorance over the kidnapping after being interrogated by the police.

“He told the officers that he didn’t know anything about the kidnapping. He claimed that he only saw the child on Friday morning after he heard her screaming from one of the unused bedrooms at about 5AM. He also claimed he confronted his girlfriend and told her to return the child to her parents,” said the source.

The boyfriend allegedly told police officers that Moyo left on the pretext of returning the child to her parents only for the child to be found by investigating officers in a car inside the garage. The Chronicle