Cape Town - The Western Cape Department of Education (WCED) arranged counselling support for Rylands Primary School pupils and educators as 8-year-old Abidah Dekhta - who was abducted while on her way to school last week - is yet to be reunited with her family.
The search for the little girl was still ongoing on Monday after she was kidnapped at about 7am on Friday in Amber Court, Gatesville just 5 minutes away from her home.
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi could only confirm that the child was yet to be reunited with her family.
Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said a multi-disciplinary task team, including the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), Organised Crime Intelligence, provincial detectives, crime intelligence and HNT (Hostage Negotiation Teams) were busy probing the incident.
“The investigation is at a sensitive stage and no information can be divulged at this moment.”
Those close to the family said the parents, Aslam Dekhta and his wife, Salama Dekhta had asked for space as they are still coming to terms with the kidnapping.
The father is a cellphone businessman and the family is originally from India.
The 8-year-old had been seated in a stationary lift club vehicle which was waiting to pick up another pupil when a white Nissan double cab bakkie pulled into the driveway and two armed men approached the vehicle.
“The driver was held at gunpoint and the child was forcefully grabbed out of the vehicle, while a firearm was put against her head.
There was another child, who jumped to the back and hid himself. He was very traumatised. The men sped off. Her school bag was left behind,” Gatesville Neighbourhood Watch chairperson Fowzia Veerasamy said.
She said there was still a very sombre mood in the community.
“We are all waiting just to hear that the child is back safely at home. There is still no news that there has been a request for ransom. A message to all local churches and mosques has been sent out, requesting prayers. When a child is missing we can be involved on the ground, but this case is different.
“The only thing we could do as we have been trained was to give police all evidence we might have found or what we have been informed about, and we also assisted with witnesses. We did our part.
I don’t want to lie - we are disappointed with the pace of police reaction and we will raise it in our meeting with the station commander,” said Veerasamy.
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said while the incident was not school related, counselling support was arranged at the school on Tuesday.
The Muslim Judicial Council’s (MJC) First Deputy President Abdul Khaliq Allie said the family was devastated and it was a time for unity.
“This is a time for our communities to stand together. We can just imagine the pain of that little girl not being with her family, it has been more than two days. More action is needed from the police to swiftly track perpetrators and apprehend them.”
In September there was an engagement with stakeholders on the subject of safety and security in the Western Cape, activist Hanif Loonat said nothing has been implemented to date.
“The ministry is a joke; we need competency.”
Cape Times