Woman kidnapped in Matola by armed men – report

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Woman kidnapped in Matola by armed men – report

9:09 CAT | 22 Apr 2019

Photo: O País

A woman was kidnapped earlier this afternoon on National Road number 4, in the city of Matola. Witnesses at the scene say that the kidnappers were three masked men carrying at least one AK-47 type weapon.

The crime reportedly occurred around 12:30 p. m. as the victim was coming out of a store of building materials, located about 30 metres after the Shoprite intersection, towards Mlhampswene

Witnesses cited by ‘O Pais’ said that the kidnapping was quick and apparently executed by professionals.

“The lady was leaving that store and, when she got to her car, there was another car there, with tinted windows. It stopped by her side and a man grabbed the lady and forced her into their car, a white ‘Altezza’,”said a witness who did not want to be identified.

The same witness describes the kidnappers as strong and apparently well-trained men, judging by the skill with which they manipulated the weapon and the victim

“The lady started to scream and many cars stopped. The security guards approached to help the lady, but then the second man came out and manipulated the gun. We all fled and there was panic here,” explained the same witness, adding that it was then that the victim stopped fighting and was bluntly thrown into the kidnappers’ car that drove off at great speed towards Malhampswene.

One of the nearby security guards reportedly still tried to pull out his gun but gave up after seeing the weapons carried by the kidnappers ending up running away from the scene like all the other onlookers.

Police made it to the scene of the crime and picked up the victim’s car half an hour after the incident.

Our reporting team went to the first police station in the city of Matola where the agents confirmed the occurrence but declined to give any details on the matter, promising more information in the first hours of Tuesday, through the spokesman for the corporation in Maputo province.

At least three relatives of the victim were in the police station testifying in the afternoon.

It was no possible until then to neither ascertain the identity of the victim nor establish the possible motivations behind the crime committed against this lady who was transported in a Toyota Hilux 4×4 vehicle with the registration plate AFM 650 MP and reportedly wearing white clothes and a red hat, identity clothing of a local religious confession.

By Luís Mazoio

ALSO READ: Supposed kidnapping in Matola: Police say it was a “false alarm” – Noticias

Watch: Yet another version of the Matola kidnapping: not a kidnapping but a police operation

Source: O País