{"id":239468,"date":"2016-08-15T13:08:08","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T13:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=239468"},"modified":"2016-08-15T13:08:08","modified_gmt":"2016-08-15T13:08:08","slug":"woman-jailed-for-kidnapping-sa-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/woman-jailed-for-kidnapping-sa-baby\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman jailed for kidnapping SA baby"},"content":{"rendered":"
A South African court has jailed a woman for 10 years for kidnapping a baby from her hospital bed 19 years ago and raising her as her own.<\/p>\n
The 51-year-old woman was arrested in 2015 after people noticed an uncanny resemblance between the girl, Zephany Nurse, and another girl at school.<\/p>\n
DNA tests carried out by police then proved that the two girls were sisters.<\/p>\n
Judge John Hlophe told the defendant she had “betrayed” Zephany by her actions.<\/p>\n
The kidnapped girl’s biological parents, Celeste and Morne Nurse, called her Zephany, but the name she grew up with has not been revealed to protect her identity.<\/p>\n
The convicted woman has also not been named for similar reasons.<\/p>\n
Local media have previously reported that Zephany does not wish to have a relationship with her biological parents and considers the woman who kidnapped her as her mother.<\/p>\n
She has decided to continue living with her abductor’s husband, whom she grew up believing to be her father.<\/p>\n
Outside the court, Zephany’s biological grandmother Marilyn said she was not happy with the length of the sentence, but hoped that the family would now have a chance to bond and form a relationship with Zephany.<\/p>\n