PUPIL ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY FAKING OWN KIDNAPPING, DEMANDING RANSOM FROM PARENTS

PUPIL ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY FAKING OWN KIDNAPPING, DEMANDING RANSOM FROM PARENTS. 

A 20-year-old pupil has been arrested in Limpopo for allegedly faking his own kidnapping and demanding a R7 000 ransom from his family.

Limpopo police arrested the pupil on Saturday along with his 24-year-old friend, who allegedly conspired with him to fake the kidnapping.

Police officers found the pupil after the investigating team visited various homesteads in Tafelkop.

“The victim was taken along with his 24-year-old accomplice for questioning. The duo was arrested after they confessed to conspiring and faking the kidnapping in order to get money from the family,” a police statement read.

Limpopo police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe condemned the incident.

“False reports put a lot of strain on police resources which could have been directed to deal with real incidents of crime and to victims who desperately need police assistance,” said Hadebe.

The pupil left his home in Lusaka, Dennilton, on Friday at about 07:00 to attend school, which is about 3km from his home.

His mother became worried when he did not return home and informed her husband when he returned from work.

The police said the husband received several messages from his son’s cellphone number asking him to call but when he called, the phone went unanswered. The couple then asked their son’s classmates about his whereabouts, and they said that he had not attended classes on Friday.

On Friday at about 20:15, an unknown person called the family using the supposed victim’s number and demanded R7 000, threatening to kill him if they failed to comply.