Convicted child snatcher, Keith Singadi (21), recounted his story of crime, starting in Beitbridge.
Keith said they started off by robbing border jumpers at Beitbridge.
One day, they met an armed robber whose girlfriend used to work for a Kwekwe businessman called Eden.
The three and the girl went to Eden’s home and they found tight security. They found a Chrysler parked at the gate.
When they got to the Chrysler they found a three year old child in the car. The decided to kidnap the child to get the money from the parents.
They left with the child to Harare where they spent three weeks with her.
After three weeks, they found the phone number of the parents. They demanded $50 000 from the parent.
They drove to Kwekwe and the detectives set a trap. They met the parent’s car and saw the parent in his car with police.
They canceled the meeting and went back home.
After 3 days, they called the mother and threatened to kill the child.
They then told the parent to hand over the money at his gate. The parent handed $35 000.
They took the child to Nandos and the girl left the child. They then travelled to Beitbridge.
When they got to Gwanda, they found the child at Nandos. When they got to Gwanda they shared their money.
His mother called him and asked him to leave Beitbridge. He traveled to Cowdray Park in Bulawayo with his friend called Donny.
They were staying at Mguni lodge where they bought a car.
During investigations, police discovered the Econet phone that was used to call the parents belonged to the mother of one of his friends.
They were interrogated by Cid officers who wanted the gun. The gun was found with the friend who was in Beitbridge and his girlfriend.
The gun was linked to a number of murders (three). The friend was sentenced to death.
Keith was sentenced to 10 years in jail and is currently at Khami prison.
Rituals
Keith said he and his gang would travel to Mozambique where a traditional healer would perfom rituals on them.
The gang would enter a dark hut for three days during which time a snake or a bird would feed them with unsalted roast meat.
Some of the conditions of the rituals was that members of the gang would not sleep with a woman on Thursdays.
On the day of a robbery, gang members were not allowed to eat salted meat, sleep with a woman or use body lotion
Please watch the video above this post for more details.Â
