Cape Town - A five-year-old Tafelsig girl, reported missing on Wednesday, was found on Thursday just four doors from her home, where she was last seen playing with friends.
Now police, who initially arrested her father, are hunting for a neighbour suspected of kidnapping her.
The girl has been taken to hospital for an examination.
The barely conscious girl was found by three neighbours who were part of a search party.
They said they had thought she was dead.
“The suspect’s grandson told us she was in their house,” said one neighbour.
“Me and two other girls went to the house and the door was already opened. we saw her by her pink pants and she was lying on the bed.
“When we found her, her tongue was hanging out of her mouth and she didn’t move or say anything, like she was drugged or something.”
The girl’s father said he was angered by the whole incident. He claimed to have been arrested because “police said I looked suspicious”.
“She’s at the hospital with her mother and I haven’t spoken to them yet, so I am not sure how she is doing,” the father said.
He said they had searched the house in which his daughter was found in but had not seen her.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said it was believed the girl was held against her will and the police now urgently needed the assistance of the community to find the suspect.
“We can confirm we are investigating a kidnapping case and that the child was taken to hospital for medical examination,” Van Wyk said.
Cape Argus