DURBAN - There have been mixed reactions to the incident involving a schoolgirl who was allegedly abducted in Avoca, north of Durban, on Monday afternoon.
Social media was abuzz with a short video clip of a young man pushing the schoolgirl into a car.
However, the video does not show how the girl ended up in the vehicle and what happened after. The video only starts with the girl already in the vehicle and the young man pushing her in. It also ends in a similar way.
According to an update from Rajiv Jaynath of the Greenwood Park Community Policing Forum chairperson sub forum 2, the girl was found and she was safe.
Jaynath said: “The mother of the Avoca pupil who was allegedly abducted this afternoon has confirmed to the CPF that the pupil is safe at home.”
“It was a dispute between the pupil and her male friend.”
Jaynath said the school principal was also notified.
Sandra Small dissected the incident and first pointed out the length of the video.
Small said the video was all but 19 seconds long.
- I cannot see the beginning of the abduction. The beginning could have been the person who filmed this video and who called the police.
- If the person filming was in a car he/she could have had family in the car so the next best thing was to film the rest.
- The perpetrators could have lethal weapons in their possession.
- How many people were in this car that could also potentially outnumber the onlookers?
- The person looks like a pupil getting into the front seat was very calm.
- The guy pushing the person/victim in the car did not look like he was in any hurry.
- Nobody wants to assist because their lives could also possibly be in danger.
“We hear gunshots every day in our community which I am not witness to. Some people have witnessed these incident but will not come forward with information because they were probably threatened or feel they will be threatened,” Small said.
“If these guys had taken out any weapons then, when others intervened, there would potentially be lives lost.”
Others who reacted to the video and the girl being found safe:
Isabel MacTavish said: “So glad that she is home safe but he was hitting and pushing her into the car, that's not on at all… The mother and girl must open a case. You can't go around treating people like that…”
Pamela Padayachee said: “I just feel that before people comment and say an abduction has happened, (they must) first know the situation.”
Avish Surajbali said: “This is a hogwash story. I watched the video. This is the dispute between a gf and bf. Parents need to control their children more wisely and stop creating unnecessary panic.”
Pramika Carol Chard said: “Avish Surajbali agree with you 100%. There's no control of kids these days. They're running loose and manic all over the place. I'm so fed up of seeing 'missing' posters of young girls every week only to discover a few minutes later that they have been 'found' safe.”
Daily News