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‘SOCIAL MEDIA SAVED MY SON’

13/08/2020 01:03:00 BY VUYILE DLAMINI

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MANZINI – “Social media saved my son.”

These were words uttered by the Khanyisile Primary school pupil’s father Bhekalive Dlamini yesterday, after his son, Dan Israel, was located following a massive search that was conducted by police officers on Tuesday.

Dan was said to have gone missing at Madonsa on Monday evening.

During a telephone interview with this reporter yesterday, Bhekalive expressed that if it weren’t for social media users posting photographs of his son, he probably would not have been found.

According to Bhekalive, while expressing his personal suspicions about his son’s disappearance, Dan is said to have emerged from his bedroom after a day-long search and he appeared dishevelled and exhausted, as though he had been drugged.

“While I was at the police station on Tuesday evening, I received a phone call from a cousin, who informed me that Dan had emerged from his bedroom. When I arrived at my house, I called him to the bedroom, along with his uncle and my mother. The minute I saw him, I noticed that he did not look well-rested, although he claimed that he had slept for 24 hours. He also appeared to have dark circles around his eyes, and he generally appeared exhausted, for someone who had slept that long,” Bhekalive narrated.

He recalled that he suspected that his son had been drugged, or even hypnotised, however, when Dan was being questioned, he was cheerful and energetic, such that he appeared animated when he pointed out where he had spent the night, and day.

The father explained that what he found bizarre was that his son was not only afraid of the dark, but he also never slept alone.

“Dan always begs his grandmother or his siblings to sleep in the same room with him, so it was bizarre that he spent such a long time in the dark alone. My son is a growing boy, so his appetite has always been healthy, such that I would make jokes about him growing a bit of a belly.

“However, it was uncharacteristic of him to not come out from under the bed, even to get a glass of water from the kitchen. There was definitely some foul play here. We just cannot put the pieces of the puzzle together,” he said.

Suspicions

In relaying his suspicions, Bhekalive expressed that he suspected that his son may have been kidnapped by unknown people, who used the chance when the family had left the house to search for him, to bring him back home.

He said the alleged kidnappers, as per his suspicions, may have noted that many people, including social media users, were sharing pictures of his son.

He alleged that because his son had his own house keys with him when he disappeared, his alleged kidnappers could have used these to gain entry into the house and placed him in his bedroom.

According to Bhekalive, while they were searching for Dan, he received a phone call from a ‘concerned citizen’, who informed him that his son had been spotted at a waiting room at Sigombeni.

“While giving us more information, the female caller, who had been calling me incessantly, informed me that she was about to board a bus, when she spotted a boy sitting alone. She claimed that while questioning him, a white car sped towards them, and the driver collected the young boy and put him in the vehicle. She described that the vehicle had one occupant, who was a female driver. However, we did not pursue that tip after Dan emerged,” he said.

Bhekalive alleged he suspected that after Dan’s photograph was circulated on social media platforms, the alleged kidnappers realised they would not be able to escape the jaws of the law, so they took the chance when the family had left the house, to bring their son back.

After an eventful day on Tuesday, the Dlamini family confirmed they had taken Dan for further examination and testing at the Manzini Clinic. The results are pending.

However, Bhekalive expressed that the matter was still under police investigation, and he could no longer elaborate on it.

Social media was still abuzz yesterday over Dan’s disappearance, with some users suspecting foul play in the incident.

The topic was still widely debated yesterday evening, with some social media users urging the family to update them religiously on the case. Some questioned how the Montigny K9 Unit, made up of sniffer dogs, failed to indicate that the boy was in his bedroom.

“These are trained dogs. Besides, dogs have a strong sense of smell and can easily tell if there is a human being. I doubt the young boy was in his bedroom the whole time. Police need to thoroughly investigate the matter,” one user wrote.

One user stated that there had been several other children who had gone missing since the beginning of the year, and further urged social media users to use the same momentum to find these missing children.

Baffled

Another user stated: “I am baffled by many of you making jokes about beating Dan into telling the truth about his disappearance. Do you really think there is a child who can stay hidden for 24 hours with no food, or water? Would you have considered that the only reason why he was brought back was because everyone was on the lookout for him?”

His family emphasised they were relieved that he was safe and unharmed, as many such cases had unfortunate results.

The family further thanked the police for their due diligence in locating their son, and members of the public for widely distributing Dan’s images through various social media platforms.

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said the matter was still under investigation and she wouldn’t want to comment further.