Mozambique: Kidnapped young woman escapes from captivity, abductors wanted 45,000 meticais in ransom – O País

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Mozambique: Kidnapped young woman escapes from captivity, abductors wanted 45,000 meticais in ransom – O País

11:36 CAT | 24 Sep 2024

Photo: O País

A kidnapped young woman escaped captivity and says that, after managing to escape, she took the police to the place where she was being held but nothing was done. The authorities continue to investigate. The young woman lives in KaTembe.

These are reports from someone who spent days in the hands of a group of kidnappers in the city of Maputo. Matilde is a fictitious name that we have given to the young woman who lives in the Nkasane neighbourhood, in the KaTembe municipal district, and was kidnapped a few days ago on Guerra Popular Avenue, in the Maputo city center.

The victim says that she intended to go to the Intaka neighbourhood for the first time. In search of transportation, a “paid ride” arrived first. During the trip, Matilde discovered that she was not the only victim who had fallen into the hands of criminals.

“I intended to go to the Intaka neighbourhood, leaving from Baixa,[ Maputo CBD]. Since I couldn’t get a direct transportation I got a lift from a man who said he was going to Boquisso. I got in with a girl who said she would show me. We got in the car and headed towards Mavalane. Suddenly, the girl who was already in the car started complaining, claiming that we were going in the wrong direction. She started complaining, but the car didn’t stop, he (the driver) refused. We started screaming and one of them, the one in the back, took out his gun and said we had to shut up,” the young woman recounts in tears.

After the kidnappers’ intentions became clear, Matilde says she lost consciousness and only woke up inside a house, where the criminals forced the young women to send messages to their families for them to send the ransom amounts. Matilde’s family did not immediately have access to the ransom requested and the young woman says she saw some of the young women being released as their families sent the 45 thousand meticais [704 dollars, at current exchange rates] or half of this ransom amount.

Matilde also reports that “the families of two girls sent half the amount and they were released, and that night we only heard the men say that they had to leave because they had found two more girls and had to go get them. So, the two who had already sent the money got into the car with them. They covered them with a black cloth and, out of nowhere, they left. As for me, my family had said that they were still looking for the money”.

Matilde’s mother only received the information a few hours after her kidnapping. According to her, the family tried to report the case to the local police, who promised to follow up, but Matilde would escape the hands of the criminals when, thanks to her cleverness, she got the chance to go to an ATM to get money to pay for her own ransom.

“I managed to lie to them saying that the money they wanted was with me, on my credit card, and that only I should withdraw it from the ATM. When we left there, one of them told me that I should act as if I were his girlfriend. During the walk, I managed to lose him and run and call for help”, says the young woman.

Matilde is one of several cases that have been gaining ground in the district of KaTembe and beyond, and the population questions the absence of those who should guarantee order and security.

“We have neighbours who have been kidnapped, children, many adults… recently, a man was a victim of this group, he was kidnapped and, when the family said he had no money, they took his life. Here, in KaTembe, we are in a very distressing and chaotic situation. We need the police, for them to support us. These bandits walk around with guns. Who are they, that they even get their hands on guns?”, asks the victim’s aunt.

For criminalist Paulo Sousa, the current phenomenon of children and young people being kidnaped and with insignificant amounts demanded as ransom, may be the result of the absence of security personnel.

According to Sousa, “this class, more minimal, more reasonable, understood the insecurity, understood this fragility. Therefore, because the victim is exposed, they take advantage. Within the theory of social property, these factors are integrated: the exposure of the victim, the lack of effective security policies, one feels that they like they are in full swingy, and the lack of jobs, unemployment among young people.”

Another aspect raised by the criminalist has to do with the fact that the police are not managing to counter the actions of criminals, while at the same time stating that the police should take a stand and try to anticipate the actions of criminals, not the opposite of what has been happening.

After escaping from the hands of the criminals, Matilde went to the 18th police station, where she offered to show the place where she was held captive. The police visited the site, but so far say they are continuing with the investigations.

Source: O País