A Durban woman and a man are expected to line up in the dock on Tuesday morning on allegations of staging a hijacking.
The woman, who cannot be identified until she appears in court, is expected to appear in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday morning.
A missing persons alert was posted last week for the woman and shared widely on social media.
KwaZulu-Natal police said the woman was arrested after she handed herself over to authorities in Newcastle.
“The woman claimed to have been hijacked in Verulam and was locked in the boot of her car where she miraculously managed to send two voice note messages to her husband,” said KZN police spokesperson Robert Nethsuinda.
“Intelligence uncovered that prior to her imaginary hijacking and kidnapping, the woman had spent sometime at a casino.”
Police said that the woman was traced to an overnight accommodation in Newcastle.
“Realising that the police were closing in on her, the woman presented herself at the Newcastle police station claiming that her kidnappers dropped her on the side of the road.”
He said apart from the victim, a 55-year-old man who was allegedly party to the orchestration of her fake kidnapping, was arrested.
Police said it is alleged the man assisted her to dispose of her vehicle after spending the night with her.
Both face charges of defeating the ends of justice.
In a similar case also in KZN, a Phoenix woman was arrested for allegedly staging her own kidnapping to extort money from her businessman husband.
The incident took place in April 2023.
"The husband received a call from his wife, claiming that she had been kidnapped. She pleaded with him to deposit an undisclosed amount of money for her release. Few moments later the husband received another call from a man who threatened to hurt the woman if the money was not paid," Netshiunda said.
She was also found to have spent time at the casino.
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