South Africa: The Reaction Unit South Africa retrieved a 5-year-old girl from a two-storey home in Redcliffe – Kwazulu-Natal on Monday. The child was discovered alone and crying hysterically in the house while no guardians were found at home.
The child has since been taken to the Reaction Unit South Africa Headquarters while her guardians are being tracked down. The officers have shared that the residents of the Orchid Drive heard the child crying uncontrollably for several hours after which they reached out to RUSA urging them to investigate. A female reaction officer reached the residence where the sound was coming from and found the child.
After reaching the residence, the female officer talked to the neighbours and the child to establish the details. She gathered that the child’s mother and grandmother locked her inside the house regularly.
Afterwards, several officers from the Reaction Unit came to the residence and entered the house by force. Once they had entered, a single officer went up to the second story of the house and took the child out. The reaction officer also gave the child her barbie doll to distract and calm her down.
The RUSA officers confirmed that all the doors and burglar guards of the house were locked. The only door leading to the balcony was open. The officers used to this entrance to get the child out of the house.
After the child was safely out of the house, she informed the RUSA officer that her mother had left to meet a friend. Afterwards, her grandmother had also left the house after locking her without any adult supervision.
The Reaction Officers got the contact details of the mother and grandmother. The officers also established that the grandmother worked as a nurse in a local clinic.
The officers went to the grandmother’s place of work to talk to her however, they were informed that she had not arrived. The colleagues informed the RUSA officers that she was seen in the vicinity of Redcliffe–KZN on Monday.
The reaction officers shared an update that the maternal and paternal grandmothers of the child came to the headquarters to get the child. According to them, the child was left in the care of an uncle while the entire family were at the Verulam Magistrate’s Court.
The family had been present at the bail hearing of the child’s father who was arrested over the weekend. They further explained that an uncle was left at the home in Redcliffe to care for the girl and he had locked her indoors and left.