SW Radio Africa (London)
Alex Bell
7 July 2009
A South African couple are facing charges of abduction, human trafficking and extortion after kidnapping a young Zimbabwean woman and holding her for ransom.
The 19-year-old woman was abducted shortly after arriving in South Africa more than week ago. It's understood the couple responsible for her abduction had promised her work and even organised her transport from Zimbabwe. But instead of walking into a job, the young woman was abducted, and her brother was later contacted to pay a ransom fee of R1800.
Police officials were able to set up a false meeting with the suspects on Tuesday after the woman's family reported the ransom demand and her disappearance. The duo was arrested after arriving to cash in on their scheme. Police later discovered not only the missing woman, but also two other Zimbabweans who were being held hostage at the suspects' home.
The incident is not the first of its kind in South Africa, where hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have fled to seek safety and jobs. Johannesburg police have been investigating a possible criminal syndicate, after a group of Zimbabweans, including two young children, were discovered locked in a run-down flat in the city centre earlier this year. The group had all been abducted and their families contacted to pay ransom demands. Three Zimbabwean men, believed to be part of the criminal syndicate, were arrested.
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