Women Charged With Kidnapping After Allegedly Snatching Baby in Supermarket, Claim They Were “Just Joking”

• A baby, seated in a trolley, was allegedly snatched by two women in a supermarket in Cleary Park, Gqeberha
• The women were arrested and charged with kidnapping and claimed they were joking with the baby's parents
• CCTV footage of the incident has sparked anger around alleged kidnapping, with many calling for the women to be jailed

GQEBERHA - Two women who allegedly snatched a baby from a supermarket claim they were “just joking” with the parents. The incident occurred on Monday, 5 September, in Cleary Park, Gqeberha.

Police Spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the child’s parents were shopping while the baby was seated in the trolley. While the parents were facing the fridge, one of the women walked up to the child, touched her and then walked away, News24 reported.

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Naidu said a few seconds later, the second woman grabbed the baby and walked away. When the father noticed the baby missing, he alerted the security guard.

According to the police spokesperson, as the security guard was about to close the store’s doors, the first woman said the baby was with the other suspect.

The women were arrested and charged with kidnapping despite claiming that the incident was just a prank gone wrong. The parents and the suspects did not know each other.

Naidu told HeraldLIVE that kidnappings could occur in the blink of an eye and cautioned parents to ensure their children are in sight.

South Africans angered by the kidnapping:

@WendyCrause said:

“Joking really! They should be locked up forever, it is NOT FUNNY NOR IS IT A JOKE!”

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@SnoopyBez commented:

“What is it with the “joking” like this lately? Everyone knows how not funny this is in this country. Plain terrifying. Lost my 2-year-old at Builders once and had to sit with my head between my knees after she was found I felt so sick.”

@erraheim1 posted:

“I’m not saying anything but I strongly feel lifestyle auditing should be done on these jokers.”

CCTV footage shows supermarket employee picking up customer’s baby, charged with attempted kidnapping

In a related matter, Briefly News also reported an employee of Meyesrdal SuperSpar has been charged with attempted kidnapping after CCTV footage showed him picking up and walking off with a customer’s baby.

The baby’s mother recalled details of the terrifying incident in a now-deleted Facebook post. Danielle Wolff said the incident occurred while she was buying groceries on Sunday morning, 21 August.

TimesLIVE reported that Wolff shared that she had placed the toddler in the trolly to free up her hands. She turned away from her baby to look for something, and when she turned back, the baby was gone.

Source: Briefly News