S’African ‘baby snatcher’ denies charge

A SOUTH African woman accused of kidnapping a two-day-old baby in 1997 has pleaded not guilty in court.

Police accuse her of fraudulently pretending to be the girl’s biological mother since snatching her from a world’s famous hospital in Cape Town city.

The 50-year-old woman was arrested last year after enrolling the child, named as Zephany Nurse, in a school.
Celeste and Morne Nurse, the parents of a similar-looking girl at the school, became suspicious, and alerted police.

DNA tests proved that Zephany was their child, police said.

She had been living with the accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, near the home of Celeste and Morne Nurse in the Cape Flats, a mainly working-class neighbourhood in Cape Town, when she was found last year.

Zephany was placed in the care of social workers. A nationwide search in 1997 failed to find her.
Mrs. Nurse broke down when she testified at the start of the trial, according to BBC.