Men in car try to kidnap girl

LUCKY ESCAPE: COUPLE COME RUNNING TO HELP

Man grabs child and it appears his intention is to put her in the car.

Ayoung girl walking to a shop in Greenhills in Randfontein at about 4.50pm on 25 January with a friend was saved from a kidnapping attempt by pure chance.

The youngster said that a car that was speeding in the direction she was walking stopped right beside her. At first, she didn’t pay attention to it or even look to see how many people were inside the vehicle.

“But then a man jumped out of the back of the vehicle, ran around towards me and sprayed pepper spray in my face.

“I had my phone in my left hand. He grabbed my left arm and it felt as if he was attempting to pull me closer to the vehicle rather than trying to grab the phone … as if it was planned.”

Terrified, the young victim grabbed onto the rails of a complex wall and when her hand slipped, she fell to the ground.

“I didn’t scream but a couple who saw what was going on rushed to help me just in time.

“While I was still trying to get away from the attacker the man who had come to my rescue started shouting the vehicle registration number at the top of his voice.”

He also noticed that the car’s back door was still open. According to the couple, a number of men inside the vehicle then signalled the attacker to get in and they drove off.

Sergeant Carmen Hendricks, Randfontein police spokesperson, confirmed a case of attempted kidnapping had been opened and the case docket confirmed that a vehicle with the registration number JD83MT GP was used in the attempt.

She added that one suspect had since been arrested.

The victim’s mother said: “How can a person try and steal someone’s child in broad daylight? I don’t know what those men were planning to do with my child, but it wasn’t something good.”

The couple were traumatised by what they had seen: “What scared us the most is that we never sit at our dining room table and we saw this by chance. If we hadn’t, it’s possible that she would have been taken and never seen again.” – Caxton News Service