A South African woman, who kidnapped a 3-day old baby close to 20 years ago, has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by the Western Cape Court of Law.

The celebrated case,  Zephany Nurse came into limelight in 2005, when the twists in which the girls were kidnapped and swapped  became known.

Now 19, Zephany was abducted when she was three days old from Groote Schuur Hospital. The abductor wore clothes similar to the hospital staff uniform, and took Zephany while her mother slept following a caesarean section operation.

The woman, whose identity is still unknown, kidnapped her and raised Zephany as her own child for the next 17 years, never revealing the truth to either her husband or the young girl.

Speaking to the court, the prosecutor of the case, Evadne Kortje said, “The irreparable emotional, physical and psychological trauma experienced and still being experienced by biological parents and their [respective] families, is unfathomable. The accused has a lack of empathy towards all the victims of the crimes in this matter and she shows a lack of insight in failing to appreciate that she is not the victim in this matter.”

The biological parents of Zephany Nurse, had met their biological older daughter through their younger daughter who was friends with her sister unknowingly. They had been amazed at the resemblance between the girls, that they contacted the authorities. A subsequent DNA test confirmed the girl was their missing daughter.

Meanwhile, the woman who kidnapped her denied any act of wrong doing, told the court she had been handed the baby at a railway station by a woman who had previously given her fertility treatment.

A psychologist testifying at the sentencing proceedings, described the accused as a “mother by nature” who loved children and did not feel she had committed any offence.

Oluwakemi