'I was terrified'

The woman who lost her three-week-old baby girl for about six hours on thursday said she was terrified the whole time. An unknown woman managed to snatch the baby from the Oshakati hospital's maternity ward. Hileni Lumbu (38) from Uukwiyu Uushona shared her ordeal, describing how she lost her three-week-old premature baby girl, Ndelimona Ndapandula Sakaria, and what went through her mind during the difficult time. Lumbu said her daughter was grabbed at around 10:30 when she left her baby in the care of the woman sharing her ward. “I went to take a shower, leaving Ndelimona on the bed. I asked my roommate to keep an eye on her. When I was done taking a shower I came out of the bathroom to see that neither my roommate nor my baby was in the room,” Lumbu said. She immediately informed the hospital staff who assisted her with the search, which proved futile.“We started looking around in the ward and we found nothing,” Lumbu said. They then decided to alert the Oshana police who announced the incident on the NBC Oshiwambo radio service, asking for the public to assist in tracing the missing child. At around 15:00 on Friday afternoon, an anonymous man called the police saying he saw a woman in the vicinity of Uupindi location carrying a small baby. He said he was suspicious of her as she was not breastfeeding the child. There was a glimmer of hope but, after the police apprehended the woman, they found she did not have the missing baby. The search then continued. An hour later, the missing baby was found. According to the police, the suspect, who is from Ondiikela village in the Okaku constituency went straight home after snatching the baby but things went south after her aunt questioned her, asking for the baby's health passport. Failing to provide it, the aunt decided they should go to the hospital where the baby was born to collect the health passport and that is how they ended up returning Lumbu's baby. Despite all the fracas and Lumbu positively identifying her baby, the suspect maintained it was her child.Lumbu said as the hours passed, she began to lose hope that she would ever see her child again. “I was terrified and not feeling well. I was praying, my mother and my child's godparents, all of whom were there comforting me, were also praying,” Lumbu said.When asked how she felt when her baby was brought back and how she identified her, Lumbu said she looked at her baby's wrist where the injections were given before the suspect snatched her. When asked how she feels towards the suspect, Lumbu paused for a moment, and said she cannot tell how she feels. “I don't know how she is, some people say she is not fine in the head. I still don't know why she took my baby, this world has a lot of things these days,” Lumbu said. Meanwhile, the woman who stands accused of kidnapping the three-week-old baby made her first court appearance in the Oshakati Magistrate's Court yesterday and pleaded guilty. The suspect, Toini Kandapo (26) appeared before magistrate Helena Ekandjo. Kandapo told the court she will conduct her own defence and the matter was postponed to 22 March. She was granted bail of N$1 000.The state was represented by state prosecutor, Christina Masule. KENYA KAMBOWE

'I was terrified'

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-22

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'I was terrified'

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-22

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