Woman Sentenced To 4 Yrs For Stealing Baby To Scam BF

Story ByLee Bullen, Sub EditorJoseph Golder, AgencyNewsflash

A 33-year-old woman has been sentenced to four years in prison for stealing a baby from a family home so she could trick her boyfriend into continuing to pay an allowance.

The court in the city of Pietermaritzburg in the eastern South African province of KwaZulu-Natal sentenced Bongeka Mathonsi, 33, for stealing the baby to deceive her boyfriend.

The 33-year-old woman was arrested in October 2019 after breaking into a family home in KwaPata and abducting their baby girl.

As well as taking the three-week-old infant, Mathonsi also grabbed some baby clothes and other necessities before fleeing the scene.

Police spokesperson Thembeka Mbele told local media: “The mother realised that her baby was missing in the early hours of the morning when she wanted to breastfeed her.

Cops traced Mathonsi to her boyfriend’s house where she was found with the missing baby and was detained.

Mbele said: “The accused had deceived her boyfriend from Malawi by telling him that she was pregnant with his baby. The boyfriend had been depositing cash into her account to pay for the baby.

The police spokesperson added: “The accused stole the baby when the boyfriend wanted to see her so that he would take her to his home for their traditional rituals.”

The trial got underway last week and Mathonsi has now been sentenced to four years in prison.

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