A mum has begged for the secure return of her nine-day-old son after he was snatched at a shopping centre in Cape Town.
Imaan Sharmar, 25, believes the lady responsible had targeted her before little Mogamat Imaad Sharmar was even born, posing as a community sponsor helping latest moms.
She explained how the lady, who gained her trust during a house visit weeks earlier, accompanied her and Mogamat to Middestad Mall, in Bellville, on June 28 where they got something to eat.
But through the meal she needed to rush into the toilets to be sick, leaving Imaan with the lady. When she got here back, that they had each vanished.
Chatting with the Cape Argus through tears, Imaan said: ‘It doesn’t feel right not having him here. The day I gave birth, that was when my whole life was complete
‘I don’t know what her intentions were and what she was doing with him in these three days, it has been driving me crazy, I have no idea if he drank anything, or what he has been given to drink.
‘Does he have clothing on? is his nappy being modified? Is she hurting him? My mind is running up to now away from me, my body is full of anger.
‘Whatever your name is, I don’t know if the name you gave me, whether it is your real name, please, if you desire to do it anonymously, drop him off somewhere secure, with warm clothes on, wrap him in his three blankets, leave him, tip us off where he’s.
‘I’m literally at the purpose of begging – whoever you’re working with, bring him back, he is just per week old, he needs my milk, he must be home.’
The lady reportedly gave the name ‘Chivon’ and pretended to be a community sponsor from The Zoe Project, a well-established NGO.
Tracey Aitken, the Project’s founder, told News24 her organisation had no knowledge of Imaan nor had any dealings along with her.
Missing children organisations said the case was worryingly just like other recent kidnappings.
Those include the kidnapping of two-month-old Kai-isha Meniers outside a supermarket in 2022.
Bianca Van Aswegen, national co-ordinator for Missing Children SA said: ‘Similarities to this case is kind of scary.
‘I’m pondering is that this a brand new trend, is it linked to illegal adoptions, what’s the motive behind most of these crimes, especially people pretending to be a sponsor in the brand new case or a social employee, to get access to those babies, it’d result in illegal adoptions.’
Candice van der Rheede, of Western Cape Missing Children, added: ‘We want to begin urging people to also stop posting their personal information on social media.’
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said officers were following up on all leads in baby Imaad’s case.
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