Cape Town - This festive season, in light of the spike in kidnapping cases across the Western Cape, parents are frantic over the safety of their children.
A Cape mother detailed what she believes to be an attempted kidnapping at the Kenilworth Centre on December 23, which prompted the family to open a police complaint.
Kensington resident and mother Nabeelah Martin, 28, said she was standing in the queue to pay for items at Mr Price when a woman looked directly at her and said “shhh”, placing a finger on her lips.
The woman then grabbed the hand of Martin’s 5-year-old daughter standing beside her, but facing the opposite direction.
“She wasn’t smiling or making a joke. It was a fear thing, the way her gesture was made. I just brushed it off and ignored it. And as I ignored it, I saw her take my daughter’s arm and casually drag my daughter along with her. So my daughter thought it was her mommy taking her arm,” Martin said.
“The way she was doing it, it was as if she wasn’t trying to make a scene. And as she took my daughter, I noticed, and dragged my daughter away from her,” Martin said.
“I asked her what she was doing and there was no shock, not even stunned. She just looked at me and said, ‘Oh, I'm just joking,’ and I asked her what kind of joke this is, and she said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry’.”
Mr Price staffers informed Martin that the matter was being internally taken care of as the woman involved was part of the Mr Price Group.
The mother, however, proceeded to open a police complaint.
Her daughter, who was celebrating her birthday at Spur, was reportedly then hauled to the nearest police station, with the woman and a senior Mr Price staffer.
Martin said the child as well as the family were traumatised by the actions of the woman, who they found and confronted again as she was standing to pay for goods at the Mr Price counter.
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi confirmed that a case of kidnapping was registered at the Claremont police station, and that the matter was under investigation.
Reports suggested that the complainant was standing in a queue with her minor daughter on Friday, December 23, at a local shop when an unknown woman approached the minor.
“She took the child by the hand, indicating for the child to keep quiet. The complainant resisted and the woman left.”
Mr Price Group was contacted, however, had not responded by the time of publication.