[imagesource: Women For Change / Facebook]

For three long months, Laura Nkhana and Michael Tembo had no idea whether they would see their little girl Eva again. But for once, a story about an abducted child has a happy ending.

On Monday, after being sick with worry for so long, the parents were finally reunited with their daughter.

Eva was allegedly kidnapped by her mother’s employer, Carlos Rebelo, who gave up the girl to his lawyer on Sunday following a News24 exposé last week about the missing youngster and claims about the police’s failure to find her.

Speaking to News24 at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital on Tuesday, where doctors were examining Eva, Nkhana said she was overjoyed that her daughter had been brought back, with Eva saying “It’s nice being with mommy”.

“She came running towards me and said, ‘Mama,’ and hugged me. I’m very happy that she’s back because I was very worried about her.”

Her poor dad said he was worried that his daughter did not recognise him after they were reunited.

“I am worried about Eva; she could not recognise me, and she said I was not her father when we met at the hospital. But I showed her pictures that we took together with Carlos, and she said that is my father while pointing at Carlos.”

She was taken on 12 July after a court order instructed 72-year-old Rebelo to return the girl to her parents. Three months later, in an exclusive interview with News24, he said he would return her only if his terms were met. He demanded a free lawyer and the review of the court order.

Naturally, this prompted an outraged public outcry that eventually forced the police to take the alleged kidnapping seriously and launch an investigation.

#MCSAFound

Wonderful news! Eva Tembo has been found safe.

If you personally, or your company | or your place of work, would like to make a donation to #MCSA, please click here to donate: https://t.co/cjFxxi4knV – Thank you pic.twitter.com/czZHy2xWDU

— Missing Children SA (@072MISSING) October 22, 2024

The parents say they are now planning to return to Malawi once little Eva has received counselling to overcome the ordeal.

“We are very upset and scared because we do not know what Carlos will do, and he is still on the run. We don’t know what he is planning, so the best thing for us is to return home as soon as we can,” said Nkhana.

“We are now reunited as a family and it’s what we needed so I’m very happy.”

According to the parents, Rebelo sent them text messages after Eva returned, with one of them reading:

Please let Eva have some peace. People from news agencies don’t care about her well-being. You, the parents, need to protect her from people who don’t care for Eva. They’re only interested in their own gain…. Please think what is best for Eva, always.

The absolute gall of this oke to urge the parents to protect her from the media when he was the one who abducted her. Police have confirmed they are still looking for Rebelo, so if you spot this guy, please contact SAPS.

[source:news24]