Police arrest woman for human trafficking, child still missing
KwaZulu-Natal police have arrested a woman who was allegedly planning to sell an albino child to a traditional healer.
In a statement on Tuesday, police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Thulani Zwane said members of the Empangeni Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit were conducting a search operation for the four year old boy in the Emanguzi area.
The police officers were looking for Maneliswa Ntombela who was reported missing on June 28. The little boy had reportedly been playing with his cousin outside a tent where a church service was being held at his home at uMkhobose Reserve.
According to a report in the Zululand Observer, eyewitnesses saw the child abducted by unknown men travelling in a silver double-cab bakkie.
"While investigating this case, police followed up information about a woman who was allegedly arranging to sell a child who was an albino in the area for R100,000 to a well-known community member who is a traditional healer at Emanguzi," Zwane said.
They traced the suspect to Emanguzi and she was arrested on July 1.
The 28-year-old woman appeared in the Ubombo Magistrate's Court on Monday and will apply for bail on July 12.
The four year old boy remains missing, and Zwane has appealed to the community to come forward with any information on his whereabouts. - ANA