By Umamah Bakharia
The police investigation into the high- profile kidnapping of the four Moti brothers has been stalled. According to the SAPS, the boys father has interdicted the police from speaking to the children.
Police say while they are still trying to convince the Moti family to allow detectives to interview their sons, however, the family has the right to withdraw their case.
On Sunday, police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed the family had refused to allow officers to interview the brothers – Zia, Alwaan, Zayyad, and Zidan – about their kidnapping ordeal.
Netshiunda said on the night the boys were found, their father, Nazim Moti, refused to allow the police to interview them.
“On the night the children were found, the father said, ‘You are not coming close to me or my kids, I am opting to get an interdict’, which he did. After that, he left the country. He left before we could do anything.”
In October last year, the four Moti brothers were kidnapped on their way to school in Polokwane, they were returned three weeks later unharmed.
The family is said to be in the United Arab Emirates. It is unclear whether they have emigrated or are visiting relatives.
He said the police investigation was not closed, and they were still trying to convince the family to cooperate.
“In South Africa, everyone has rights. Why do we have to contest an order where someone says, I don’t want to talk to you? As the police, our [job] is to do an investigation, and in our country, someone can open a case and withdraw it legally so, what can we do as the police? We are trying to persuade the family to cooperate because we are not giving up [on] the case. We are investigating.”
Forensic experts are warning that the inability of the police to crack the Moti brothers kidnapping case will have serious implications for the country.
Radio Islam spoke to IRS Forensic Investigation’s, Chad Thomas, on the inability to solve this case that could lead to a kidnapping syndicate in South Africa.
“As much as the police need that information, one also has to take in consideration the ages of the children and the fact that they were severely traumatized by this entire experience,” says Thomas.
He believes that the police investigation can proceed without the statements of the Moti boys.
“We live in a digital age and we can also use geographical plotting to see where those children were found [by] speaking to witnesses in the vicinity [or] cellphone plotting [or] be able to look for natgeo data from suspects. There is multiple ways to investigate a case, its not always the victim that can give that information,” says Thomas.
Forensic experts warn that we need to be realistic about kidnappings in South Africa as it is increasing and may become a bigger problem.
“This particular case may have closed down one syndicate but its not going to close down the multiple other syndicates that are operating as well as the smaller operators that are trying this whole copycat move,” says Thomas.
“This is no longer a community problem, its a country’s problem.”
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