A 44-YEAR-OLD Mpumalanga woman has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and torturing two minor boys she accused of stealing her compact discs.
Thembeni Malinga of Thandukukhanya township in Piet Retief was arrested onTuesday.
She appeared in the Piet Retief magistrate's court yesterday on charges of kidnapping and assault.
According to the police both boys had marks inflicted by electric wires, which had been tightly bound around their necks during "interrogation".
The police said it all started on Monday afternoon when Malinga accused a 13-year-old and a seven-year-old of having stolen her CDs.
Captain Magonseni Nkosi of the Piet Retief police said Malinga approached the families of the two boys and asked for their permission to take the two to her home for questioning.
"On arrival at her home she allegedly tied their hands behind their backs and, using the same electric wire, also tied their necks. She started assaulting them when they denied any knowledge of the missing discs.
"Later that night she allegedly untied the older boy and took him to point out the place where the discs had allegedly been taken.
"They did not find them and returned to the house, only to find the younger boy's eyes bulging and his tongue hanging out," he said.
The woman immediately untied the wire from his neck but left his hands tightly bound before all three went to sleep. The tied boys were locked in a separate room.
Nkosi said the boys' parents went to look for their children in the morning and found that they were missing from Malinga's house.
"They reported the matter to the police. We went to fetch the woman from her place of employment on Tuesday afternoon for questioning. We subsequently arrested her," Nkosi said.
Malinga's Her case was postponed to January 8 for further investigation and to give Malinga her time to apply for legal aid.
'Young Boys Tied up to admit theft'
A 44-YEAR-OLD Mpumalanga woman has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and torturing two minor boys she accused of stealing her compact discs.
Thembeni Malinga of Thandukukhanya township in Piet Retief was arrested onTuesday.
She appeared in the Piet Retief magistrate's court yesterday on charges of kidnapping and assault.
According to the police both boys had marks inflicted by electric wires, which had been tightly bound around their necks during "interrogation".
The police said it all started on Monday afternoon when Malinga accused a 13-year-old and a seven-year-old of having stolen her CDs.
Captain Magonseni Nkosi of the Piet Retief police said Malinga approached the families of the two boys and asked for their permission to take the two to her home for questioning.
"On arrival at her home she allegedly tied their hands behind their backs and, using the same electric wire, also tied their necks. She started assaulting them when they denied any knowledge of the missing discs.
"Later that night she allegedly untied the older boy and took him to point out the place where the discs had allegedly been taken.
"They did not find them and returned to the house, only to find the younger boy's eyes bulging and his tongue hanging out," he said.
The woman immediately untied the wire from his neck but left his hands tightly bound before all three went to sleep. The tied boys were locked in a separate room.
Nkosi said the boys' parents went to look for their children in the morning and found that they were missing from Malinga's house.
"They reported the matter to the police. We went to fetch the woman from her place of employment on Tuesday afternoon for questioning. We subsequently arrested her," Nkosi said.
Malinga's Her case was postponed to January 8 for further investigation and to give Malinga her time to apply for legal aid.