A GOOD Samaritan from Mzilikazi suburb had her baby stolen from her home by a stranger she had offered accommodation overnight.
Richard Muponde
This came to light on Monday on the initial appearance of Sihle Mhlanga before Bulawayo senior provincial magistrate Abednico Diliza Ndebele, facing charges of kidnapping.
She was remanded in custody to Thursday for trial at the Bulawayo Regional Courts and was advised to apply to the High Court for bail while the prosecution prepare her charge sheet.
The State sought her incarceration in remand prison, arguing she was of no fixed abode, as she often travels from town to town and country to country setting base there.
Prosecutor Kudakwashe Jaravaza told the Court that sometime in May, Mhlanga went to house number U17 in Mzilikazi and met the complainant whose name was not mentioned in State papers or in court.
On arrival at the house, she allegedly told the complainant that she did not have a place to sleep for the night and asked for accommodation.
The complainant offered her accommodation with an understanding that she would leave the following morning to her destination, not disclosed.
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However, when the rest of the family members at the house were asleep, Mhlanga woke up at midnight. She allegedly stole the complainant’s baby and disappeared.
The complainant woke up the following morning and found her baby missing.
She looked for Mhlanga and found that she had gone and suspected her to be the one who had stolen her baby. A police report was made, but they could not find her.
After stealing the baby, Mhlanga allegedly smuggled it to Botswana and stayed there for two months.
However, she arrived back in the country recently, leading to her arrest last weekend after the police received a tip-off from members of the public.
The baby was recovered.
