THE mother of the baby who disappeared mysteriously while in the care of a domestic worker is furious after the woman was released from custody yesterday
Elsie Molefe's 19-month-old daughter Masego disappeared on Friday with the woman who had been looking after her for two months.
The woman was taken into custody on Monday but was released yesterday.
"I am furious that the court released her without finding my baby first. Now that she has been set free I might never see my baby again. I think she will kill her or flee with her to Zimbabwe. I am also afraid that I will be tempted to take the law into my own hands should I see her," Molefe said.
Molefe returned from work and found people at her house. The domestic worker told her that she "was trying to cross the river when she slipped and fell into the water with the baby on her back".
The domestic worker was later arrested and charged with child stealing because she had taken the child without the mother's consent.
Police spokesperson Captain Manyadza Ralidzhivha said the woman was supposed to appear in the Tembisa magistrate's court on Tuesday but the case was not placed on the roll. It was instead transferred to the children's court for further investigation. The woman and her partner were released.
"What we know is that the case is not over but under investigations," Ralidzhivha said.
Molefe said she did not believe that her baby was swept away by water.
"She has been asking me to take her to somebody who could help her fall pregnant because her mother-in-law insists it is time she bore her son a child.
"She even said she was afraid of going home to Zimbabwe without a baby because her mother-in-law would not be impressed."
An expert in social work and criminology at the University of Pretoria, Vollie Spies, said when the interests of the child came first in a case, it would be transferred to the children's court.
"It is possible that they found that there was no negligence or intention to harm the baby and released her.
"The commissioner will make a ruling on whether to transfer the case back to the criminal court."
Mother livid at nanny's release
THE mother of the baby who disappeared mysteriously while in the care of a domestic worker is furious after the woman was released from custody yesterday
Elsie Molefe's 19-month-old daughter Masego disappeared on Friday with the woman who had been looking after her for two months.
The woman was taken into custody on Monday but was released yesterday.
"I am furious that the court released her without finding my baby first. Now that she has been set free I might never see my baby again. I think she will kill her or flee with her to Zimbabwe. I am also afraid that I will be tempted to take the law into my own hands should I see her," Molefe said.
Molefe returned from work and found people at her house. The domestic worker told her that she "was trying to cross the river when she slipped and fell into the water with the baby on her back".
The domestic worker was later arrested and charged with child stealing because she had taken the child without the mother's consent.
Police spokesperson Captain Manyadza Ralidzhivha said the woman was supposed to appear in the Tembisa magistrate's court on Tuesday but the case was not placed on the roll. It was instead transferred to the children's court for further investigation. The woman and her partner were released.
"What we know is that the case is not over but under investigations," Ralidzhivha said.
Molefe said she did not believe that her baby was swept away by water.
"She has been asking me to take her to somebody who could help her fall pregnant because her mother-in-law insists it is time she bore her son a child.
"She even said she was afraid of going home to Zimbabwe without a baby because her mother-in-law would not be impressed."
An expert in social work and criminology at the University of Pretoria, Vollie Spies, said when the interests of the child came first in a case, it would be transferred to the children's court.
"It is possible that they found that there was no negligence or intention to harm the baby and released her.
"The commissioner will make a ruling on whether to transfer the case back to the criminal court."
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