An eight-month old stolen baby has been found on the Esperanza farm in Welkom, Free State police said on Friday.

The baby’s mother travelled with an unknown woman from Thabong village to Welkom, where she was promised a job, Captain Stephen Thakeng said.

“The mother was told to go back home and fetch her identity document. The unknown woman offered to stay with the baby,” said Thakeng.

When the mother returned the baby and the woman were nowhere to be found.

“Police followed up information about a stolen baby in a house in Esperanza farm, where they found a child hidden and wrapped in blanket”.

The baby was reunited with the mother, while the unkown woman was identified as a Lesotho national.

She will appear in Welkom Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of child theft.

Sapa