The hunt for baby Imaad – How police cracked the Bellville kidnap case

Cape Town – A 12-day-old baby, Mogamat Imaad Shamar, who was kidnapped from a shopping mall in Bellville, Cape Town, has been found and reunited with his mother.

The infant was taken after his mother, feeling unwell during an outing, briefly left him in the care of a woman she had been with. When she returned from the bathroom, both the woman and her newborn were gone.

The suspect, who introduced herself as “Chivon”, had allegedly befriended the baby’s mother during her pregnancy, claiming to represent an organisation that supports young mothers with counselling and care packages.

After the baby was born, “Chivon” took the mother out for a meal — an outing that ended in the infant’s abduction.

A kidnapping case was opened at Bellville SAPS.

Following an intensive investigation, police located the baby at a residence in Tafelsig on 30 June 2025 and arrested a 37-year-old woman, The Citizen reported.

“Owing to the meticulous investigation and the analytical approach to the information at their disposal, the team pounced on an address in Honolulu Street in Tafelsig on Monday, 30 June 2025, where they found the child and in the process detained a 37-year-old female for kidnapping.