A 44-year-old man was stopped while trying to abduct a two-year-old girl from a playground in Berlin. Apparently, the abductor took advantage of the fact that the mother of the child was not paying attention to her and was talking with one of the other parents on the playground, and he tried to carry the little girl away undetected.
Fortunately, the intruder was noticed by one of the mothers that was present, and the concerned 27-year-old followed him while taking her own 2-year-old child with her.
The female, whose identity remained hidden and was simply called “Heike S” by the media, later explained that she could not follow the abductor, because he was walking too fast, and she asked for assistance from the shopkeeper of the local shop, 44-year-old Zoran Z.
As a result, Zoran ran after the man and stopped him with the question, “Is this your child?” to which the snatcher explained that the girl was not his daughter, but he loved children and could not understand how parents left their kids at home with caregivers.
However, after some further reasoning, the abductor reportedly was talked into bringing the girl to her parent. By the time they got back to the park, the absence of the child was already noticed, and according to Zoran, the mother was so shocked by what happened that she remained calm when the abductor returned her daughter.
Meanwhile, the snatcher of the girl was taken into custody but was later released because “the conditions for issuing an arrest warrant were not met.”
Zoran shared: “The mother was panicked. Another mother was already on the phone with the police. The guy then put the child in her arms. She was probably in such a state of shock that she spoke to him normally.”
Local authorities stated on social media: “So far there is no evidence of a sexual motivation or of malicious intent. Visiting a playground in Berlin is no more dangerous than usual.”
Heike S also explained: “I imagined what would it have been like if it had been my child. Now I also know that he is back. That he can stand in front of us again at any time. That he might recognize me and my daughter. Why didn’t the police put up a notice at the playground? That is scary.”
People in the area have started warning other parents to be extra careful in the future.
