Kidnapper jailed for 20 years for taking toddler

After weeks on the run and an eventual  guilty plea, a Mozambican woman who kidnapped a Mdantsane child was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment.

Sindisiwe Cresentia Alberto Ntsokana, 32, was sentenced in the  Mdantsane Regional Court  yesterday.

Ntsokana kidnapped Perfect Gift Msesiwe from her home on August 3 after she was hired to look after the child.  She fled with the child, demanding R500000 from the family for her return.

Ntsokana was hired from Amalinda Main Road to look after the child and just two weeks into the job abducted her from her grandmother’s house.

Three-year-old Perfect Gift was rescued from her kidnappers in a poor village near Maputo, Mozambique, on September 7, after Ntsokana’s arrest on September 4, and returned home to East London.

Two other people have been arrested in  Mozambique  for harbouring a stolen  child.

In her plea explanation Ntsokana said she took the child with her to Mozambique, asking her aunt to look after her saying it was her boyfriend’s child.

She was sentenced to three months imprisonment for entering the country without valid documentation, five years for extortion and 15 years for kidnapping. The sentences do not run concurrently.

National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesman Tsepo Ndwalaza said they were pleased with Ntsokana’s sentence.

It is believed that Ntsokana intends to appeal her sentence. — siyab@dispatch.co.za

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