Baby kidnap drama at Outjo

A WOMAN is due to appear in the Outjo Magistrate’s Court today for allegedly abducting a baby from the town’s State Hospital only hours after the infant was born last Thursday night.

The mother of the baby girl alleges that the kidnapping was an attempt by the child’s father to conceal the birth of the baby girl from his wife. Bertha Heibes (21) told The Namibian that her child was fathered by her former employer, a well-known white businessman at Outjo at whose business she worked as a waitress for more than a year.She believes that the woman who stole her baby from the maternity ward was involved in a plot with another woman and the baby’s father to steal her child.The baby was returned by the suspect’s mother on Friday morning.When arrested, the suspect claimed not to have been aware of her actions.FELL ASLEEP WITH BABY NEXT TO HER She is alleged to be having an affair with the father of Heibes’s child – the businessman.Heibes said that after giving birth at about 18h00 on Thursday, she fell asleep with her baby next to her, only to be woken up at around 22h00 by a woman sitting next to the bed.She said the woman was known to her, but was not considered a close friend.Asked why she was in the ward at that time, Heibes said the woman claimed that she was in labour and said that the nurses had instructed her to walk around to hasten the birth.Heibes recalls that the woman must have sat next to her bed until the early hours, when she told the woman she was tired and wanted to sleep.When Heibes next awoke – at around 03h30 – the room was dark and her baby was gone, she said.”I picked up the blankets.I thought maybe I had smothered my baby or something.I looked around but couldn’t find her.Then I went to the nurses, but they were sleeping,” said Heibes.She said she also approached the security staff at the hospital, but they claimed not to have seen anybody leave with her baby.Heibes then went with the Police in search of the woman who had come to visit her, but before she could be found, the suspect’s mother had returned the baby to the hospital by 06h00 that morning.Heibes said that even before her child was born, she believed certain individuals were plotting to protect the father from any scandal.She said it was evident from her baby’s physical features that she was fathered by a white man.Bertha Heibes (21) told The Namibian that her child was fathered by her former employer, a well-known white businessman at Outjo at whose business she worked as a waitress for more than a year.She believes that the woman who stole her baby from the maternity ward was involved in a plot with another woman and the baby’s father to steal her child.The baby was returned by the suspect’s mother on Friday morning.When arrested, the suspect claimed not to have been aware of her actions. FELL ASLEEP WITH BABY NEXT TO HER She is alleged to be having an affair with the father of Heibes’s child – the businessman.Heibes said that after giving birth at about 18h00 on Thursday, she fell asleep with her baby next to her, only to be woken up at around 22h00 by a woman sitting next to the bed.She said the woman was known to her, but was not considered a close friend.Asked why she was in the ward at that time, Heibes said the woman claimed that she was in labour and said that the nurses had instructed her to walk around to hasten the birth.Heibes recalls that the woman must have sat next to her bed until the early hours, when she told the woman she was tired and wanted to sleep.When Heibes next awoke – at around 03h30 – the room was dark and her baby was gone, she said.”I picked up the blankets.I thought maybe I had smothered my baby or something.I looked around but couldn’t find her.Then I went to the nurses, but they were sleeping,” said Heibes.She said she also approached the security staff at the hospital, but they claimed not to have seen anybody leave with her baby.Heibes then went with the Police in search of the woman who had come to visit her, but before she could be found, the suspect’s mother had returned the baby to the hospital by 06h00 that morning.Heibes said that even before her child was born, she believed certain individuals were plotting to protect the father from any scandal.She said it was evident from her baby’s physical features that she was fathered by a white man.