Zim man faces kidnap charges in Wales

Zim man faces kidnap charges in Wales

By Mduduzi Mathuthu
25/02/04
A 28-YEAR-OLD Zimbabwean asylum seeker has been charged with the attempted abduction of a toddler in Wales, United Kingdom following a dramatic televised nationwide hunt.

Mthokozisi Ndozo appeared before a magistrate in the Welsh capital of Cardiff on Tuesday after he surrendered to the police. A second man is said to be assisting the police with their investigations.

But friends immediately rallied around Ndozo, describing the incident as a “modern day lynching” and continuation of the “persecution of asylum seekers in the United Kingdom”.

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The incident happened last Thursday when a woman was shopping with her two children in a branch of the supermarket chain Argos in Queen's Arcade, Cardiff.

The two-year-old girl became briefly separated from her mother, South Wales Police said. The girl's mum, who is said to be in her early 20s, was shopping with her sister and another child in a pram when she lost sight of the toddler at around 2.30pm.

Surrender

Ndozo’s surrender followed a national appeal for information, including CCTV pictures released by South Wales Police clearly showing him and his friend walking up an escalator in the shopping centre.

Ndozo is seen approaching the young girl, taking her hand and trying to lead her from the store, but the girl tries to resist. Her mother then emerges and pulls her away from Ndozo.

Detective inspector Dave Bishop said: "I would like to reassure the public, particularly parents of young children, that this is an isolated incident and there is no need for panic.”

Modern day lynching

Meanwhile Ndozo’s friends rallied around him Wednesday, denying that he had tried to kidnap the girl. They accused the police of outdated stereotypes and predicted the case would crumble before it goes to trial.

”Mthokozisi was just trying to be friendly, that’s all,” said a friend who declined to be named.

“In Zimbabwe it is not a crime to be friendly to a child who comes up to you. But here, because their minds are preoccupied with paedophilia they see any such action as evil intent. There is a clash of cultures.

”Mthokozisi has surrendered himself to the police because he knows he is innocent. The police will realise at a great cost that their trumpeted catch is nothing more than a poorly organise comedic stand-up. This is a modern day lynching and yet another sad chapter in the harassment of asylum seekers in this country.”
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editor@newzimbabwe.com