The accusation of faking her own abduction led to the arrest of a 19-year-old Zambian woman.
Police have withheld the woman’s identity, but she is said to have told her uncle that she had been kidnapped while going to church by unknown individuals.
According to Rae Hamoonga, a spokesperson for the Zambia police, the woman left the house claiming to be going to church. Instead, she went to the house of her boyfriend, where she allegedly falsely claimed to have been abducted.
The “abductors,” who claimed that she had been injected with an unknown substance and was being held captive in a secret location, contacted her uncle.
In addition, the “abductors” demanded a ransom of $3,100 in Zambian kwacha;£2,800), or else they’d hurt her.
After that, the police looked into the claim, which they say turned out to be false, and they were able to get the woman out of the house where her boyfriend lived.
Since then, she has been arrested and charged with cheating, which is against Zambian law.
She could receive a fine and up to three years in prison if she is found guilty.
She is scheduled to appear in court soon, but she has been unable to comment on the allegations.
Although kidnappings are uncommon in Zambia, two suspects were recently apprehended for the abduction of 13 girls and women who had been held captive for up to six months.