Disturbing trend of forced circumcisions and kidnappings surfaces ahead of initiation season
In a troubling turn of events, South African authorities are urging parents to be vigilant and help fight a surge of scammers who are kidnapping children and forcibly circumcising them ahead of the upcoming initiation season.
The latest incident occurred in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni, where a young boy, believed to be mentally and physically challenged, was abducted from the streets on May 18th. The boy, who had previously been circumcised at a hospital, was held for two weeks before being rescued by the police on May 30th.
According to the boy’s mother, the scammers had sent a consent form with a messenger, demanding that she pay more than R4,000 to have her son released. When she refused to fill out the form, the messenger simply stated that the child was in the “safe hands” of the illegal initiation school owners in Klipgat, Tshwane.
“I don’t work. Where did they expect me to get the money from? What worried me was that my son is on medication, and he was not taking it in the two weeks they kidnapped him,” the distraught mother said.
This disturbing trend has been on the rise, with scammers targeting vulnerable families and exploiting the upcoming initiation season to extort money and forcibly circumcise children, even those who have already undergone the procedure.
Daveyton community leaders are now appealing to residents to come together and report these scammers, as some members of the community are believed to be colluding with the perpetrators.
“They know that you’ll pay once they have your child, whether you have the money or not. Some parents, because of lack of knowledge, find themselves in trouble with abomashonisa, having borrowed from them to release their children,” said community leader Lali Skhosana.
The Gauteng police have confirmed that an investigation is underway following the kidnapping case, and they are urging parents to be vigilant and report any suspicious activities to the authorities.
As the initiation season approaches, the fight against these unscrupulous scammers has become a pressing concern, with authorities and community leaders calling for a united effort to protect vulnerable children and their families.
