Cape Town – The suspects taken in for questioning over the kidnapping of 8-year-old Abirah Dekhta are expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
It’s been three days since Abirah was located in a shack in Town Two, Khayelitsha.
The Rylands Primary School pupil was abducted on the morning of November 4, in her lift club vehicle that was waiting for another pupil.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said the suspects were due in court.
“The suspects taken in for questioning for the kidnapping of 8-year old Adirah Dekhta are expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court tomorrow (on Thursday, November 17, 2022) on the mentioned charges,” said Van Wyk.
Various specialised policing units and City of Cape Town’s law enforcement officials used state-of-the-art technology to locate Abirah on Monday.
Gatesville residents, joined by business owners, had marched to the police station in Athlone at the weekend, demanding the urgent safe return of Abirah.
Seven people, including a woman who was allegedly cooking and feeding the child, were taken in for questioning.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said kidnapping was rife not only in the Western Cape, but also in Gauteng that was leading in the number of cases, while KwaZulu-Natal also had the same problem.
Between April, 2021 and March this year, 39 cases of kidnappings were reported, and there were 16 from the period April to June.
Last week a Chinese woman, the wife of a Blue Bottle Liquor store manager in Bellville, was reunited with her family after being kidnapped last month.
Businessman Rajah was kidnapped in March and rescued in June.
Cape Times