Pictured is 21-year old Nontobeko Dladla who has been arrested on Monday (June 8, 2020) following an investigation into her kidnapping.
Dladla was sought by members of the Verulam SAPS and Reaction Unit South Africa after her boyfriend received pictures of her gagged and bound via Watsapp. According to her boyfriend, the victim was kidnapped from the Verulam CBD last week and the picture of her being held captive was sent to him the same evening. Fearing for the safety of the victim, the kidnapping was not made public. No ransom demand was made.
RUSA and SAPS Officers made several attempts to track the Ndwedwe resident throughout the week. On Friday afternoon at approx 17:37 Reaction Officers responded to a call of a body lying in a bush on the Umdloti Beach Road near Waterloo. Officers arrived on scene and found a female bound and gagged. A handbag was found next to her. Paramedics were summoned to the scene and established that the female was breathing. She was treated on scene and transported to the hospital. Whilst being treated the woman informed Medics that she had been raped.
During an investigation, Verulam SAPS Detectives establishment that Dladla had staged her kidnapping after a dispute with her boyfriend regarding the custody of their child. She then fled to Ntunzuma and spent the week with a male at his residence. When the man had left for work, Nontobeko Dladla stuff a piece into her mouth and bound her feet and hands and managed to take several pictures that she sent to her current boyfriend in an attempt to grab his attention and gain sympathy. When she was not located during the week, she traveled to the Umdloti Beach Road on Friday (June 5, 2020) and waited for darkness to fall before gagging her mouth, binding her hands & feet, and lying in a grassy path alongside the main road. She was then discovered by a passing chef who contacts the RUSA Operations Center.
When confronted the woman confirmed in a statement that she had fabricated her own kidnapping. She was then arrested by Verulam SAPS Detectives and charged for Defeating the Ends of Justice.
The woman appeared in the Verulam Magistrates Court this morning (Tuesday) and was granted bail of R500.
Dladla is expected back in court on August 26th, 2020.