Police in South Africa are searching for an elderly
woman who allegedly persuades young men at a mall to help carry
heavy bags from her car, then kidnaps them from the parking lot and
robs them.
The woman, who works with two male accomplices, targets shoppers
standing in bank queues at a mall in Johannesburg's Soweto township
and has struck at least twice recently, The New Age newspaper
reported Friday.
"I never suspected anything wicked about the old woman as she
looked like a pensioner and had a walking stick," 18-year-old
victim Kabelo Dube told the newspaper.
He said he was waiting in line to deposit money at the bank when
a young man approached and asked him for help unloading the old
woman's bags.
He went with the pair to the car and began to help with the
bags, but then felt a gun pressed against his head and was ordered
to get in the car, he said.
The woman and her two accomplices then drove a short distance
from the mall, took his money -- 1,200 rand ($173, 122 euros) --
and forced him out of the car, he said.
"I went back to the mall and reported the incident to the
security guards, who advised me to go to a police station and open
a case," he said.
"Before I could leave another man came into the security control
room to report that he had also been robbed by two men and a
granny."
A police spokesman said a case had been opened and officers were
searching for the suspects.