Mozambican police have detained a housekeeper suspected of using an employer’s child in a fraudulent scheme, a security source told Lusa on Tuesday.
“We are faced with a case of fraudulent kidnapping of a minor with other criminal aspects,” said Mateus Mindu, a spokesman for the Manitsa provincial government.
On Saturday, the 21-year-old suspect took the 6-month-old girl to drive about 160 kilometers and introduce her to her ex-husband’s family, who demanded to see their alleged daughter in order to continue paying child support.
The domestic servant, Matheus Mindu explained, had a miscarriage in the middle of last year, so she was looking for work in the home of a pregnant woman whose due date might be close to hers.
After the birth, the suspect began to receive a pension from her husband, who lived in Machipanda, about 80 kilometers from Chimoyo.
Whenever the ex-husband left for the city, the suspect found a way to show him the child without arousing suspicion.
“She felt cornered when she had to travel with a child to prove its existence” with her ex-husband’s family.
The woman will be arrested the day after the disappearance with the child, Mateusz Mindu stressed.
“The child is in good health. She is already with the family and the accused is in police custody,” he added, stressing that the police are continuing to investigate the suspect given the history of trafficking in minors in the province. .
In 2020, police reactivated a human trafficking alert in Manica province after stopping three cases of attempted child trafficking in one week.
Eight years ago, the province was already categorized as “red” after a rise in cases was deemed alarming, almost all related to illegal enrichment rituals.