Mom, lover accused of baby kidnapping back in court

[caption id="attachment_196886" align="aligncenter" width="630"] A KwaZulu-Natal woman and her boyfriend are due back in court in connection with her baby's kidnapping Picture: Jackie Clausen[/caption]

The KwaZulu-Natal woman and her lover‚ accused of orchestrating the kidnapping of the woman's baby in March‚ are expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

The pair face charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice. An earlier charge of kidnapping was withdrawn.

The pair are accused of misleading police into embarking on a massive search for the one-month-old baby.

The baby's biological mother told police that she was hijacked near the City View shopping centre and said gunmen had sped off with her baby.

This led to an intensive search that ended after her boyfriend was caught with the child while driving towards Durban several days later.

The two were both released on R1‚000 bail.

The paternity of the baby — which was requested by the boyfriend’s legal team amid claims that he was the father — is being handled by the Family Court.