Tell me where my baby is, mother pleads
A mother broke down in the Durban Regional Court on Monday and pleaded with a man accused of abducting her nine-year-old boy‚ who is still missing‚ to tell her the whereabouts of her child.
The schoolboy‚ Miguel Louw‚ was last seen three weeks ago with the suspect.
The child’s relatives were seated in the front of the public gallery‚ with his mother‚ Raylene Louw‚ breaking down when the accused was brought into the dock.
As he stood facing the bench‚ Louw screamed: “Please tell me where my baby is!”
She cried out to the stoic man‚ who stared straight ahead‚ pleading with him to disclose her son’s location or what had happened to him.
It is believed that the boy was taken from his school‚ located less than a minute from his home‚ on the afternoon of July 17.
The man accused of his abduction has now been charged with human trafficking.
Magistrate Mahomed Motala ordered that suspect‚ who is the only link to the boy‚ should not be named or photographed.
Prosecutor Calvin Govender said the case would now be investigated by the Organised Crime Unit.
“They are investigating the accused for trafficking of a child and‚ as such‚ the charge has been changed‚” he said.
He asked that Motala bar the publication of the suspect’s name and image‚ lest it jeopardise the police investigation.
According to Miguel’s grandmother‚ Arlene Paul‚ CCTV footage placed Miguel at a KFC next door to his house with a man‚ who had been an acquaintance of the family for about two weeks‚ on the day of his disappearance.
Since his disappearance‚ his relatives have frantically taken up the search‚ canvassing shelters‚ hospitals and the state mortuary.
The suspect will return to court on August 7.
Hopes of finding Miguel continue to dwindle.
Missing Children SA’s Bianca van Aswegen said that abductions were on the up and only 1% of child trafficking victims were ever found.
“People should never wait 24 hours before reporting and this window is the most crucial when anyone goes missing‚” she said. –