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A A 27-year-old Portuguese kidnapped on Monday in Matola, on the outskirts of Maputo, she was released by kidnappers on Thursday night, a source close to the family told Lusa on Friday.
Jessica Pequeno was handed over to the family, “still in shock”but shows no signs of physical abuse, he added.
Contacted by Lusa, a source from the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic), he sent clarifications on the case for later.
The victim is the daughter of a couple who own the Burako da Velha restaurant, a family business owned by the Portuguese Dina Pequeno and Alberto Beto, where Jessica and her husband, Marco, a pastry chef, also work.
The victim was intercepted on Monday morning on one of his daily trips, between home, work and the home of his son’s nurse, all in the city of Matola, the large suburb near the Mozambican capital.
Since the beginning of 2020, the Mozambican authorities have registered a total of 10 kidnappings, of which the victims are businessmen or their relatives.
In October, a group of businessmen from the city of Beira, Sofala province, in central Mozambique, halted their activities for three days in protest at the wave of kidnappings in the country.
The Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), the country’s largest employers’ association, has also demanded on several occasions a tough fight against this type of crime and even Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has already called for more measures.
