Johannesburg -
A woman accused of kidnapping a six-month-old baby last month, on Friday said that she was forced into it by her boyfriend.
Khadija Khan, who is seven months pregnant, was on Friday granted R3 000 bail at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court, while her co-accused and partner, Khali Ayub, was denied bail.
The couple were arrested in Fordsburg two days after they snatched their landlord’s baby, Revelation Jones, from his Bezuidenhout Valley on January 8.
They assaulted his nanny, Veronica Kanda.
At the time, the two were renting a room in the Jones’s residence with Khan’s three children from her previous marriage who are aged two, six and seven.
They had demanded a ransom of R100 000 for the baby’s safe return. Dressed in a white and black floral print dress and a blue and purple scarf draped around her shoulders, Khan sat quietly in dock alongside Ayub.
“The court sees it legally proper to grant you bail. You are instructed to continue living at the address on record and not commit the same offence again while on bail,” said magistrate Paul du Plessis.
In her affidavit, Khan told the court that Ayub had forced her to take part in the kidnapping and had held her and the Jones baby in a hotel for two days against their will.
Earlier, the magistrate had been left unimpressed as Ayub’s lawyer was nowhere to be found for the proceedings.
He was further annoyed when Ayub’s attorney was later unable to explain why his client had to be granted bail after no exceptional circumstances were outlined his affidavit.
Du Plessis said that Ayub had not presented satisfactory personal circumstances to warrant bail.
“Your circumstances are not exceptional in the context of this case… You said in your affidavit that your were intoxicated on the day and did not know what was happening.”
In his affidavit, Ayub said that he needed to be home to take care of his unborn baby with Khan.
Outside the courtroom, Khan’s mother said: ”I am happy she is free for now. She is pregnant and has three children to look after at home,”
However, the nanny’s husband, Daniel Kanda, was not pleased with the outcome.
“My wife almost died and they want to be free… I am disappointed.”
Kanda said that his wife, who was still traumatised, had only now begun to recover and was walking again.
Revelation’s father, Ifeanyi Jones, who was not at court, said that he, too, was not happy about Khan’s bail.
“She knew exactly what she was doing. She was part and parcel of the entire thing. Whatever stories she has come up with, she’s trying to protect herself,” said Jones.
The couple also face a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The matter was postponed to February 12, for a trial date to be set.
Saturday Star