A four year old boy was dragged for more than eight kilometres in his father’s car after hijackers took control of the vehicle in Reiger Park, Boksburg in the east of Johannesburg.

The incident happened on Sunday night when the family of four was out driving when they were approached by three hijackers and asked to get out of the VW Golf they were travelling in. The three members of the Morris family are said to have gotten out and the hijackers took over the car. However, four year old Taegrin is said to have remained in his seat belt when the thugs entered the car.

According to police spokesperson, Lt-Col Khensani Magoai, when the car was driven off, the boy was somehow dragged outside the car by his seat belt. This resulted in him being dragged along outside the car for more than eight kilometres. When they got to Boksburg, the hijackers are said to have abandoned the vehicle. However, at that point, Taegrin was dead.

On Monday, the Gauteng police confirmed that they had a man who was assisting them with the investigation into this fateful hijacking. Making this confirmation, Colonel Noxolo Kweza added that even though they had this man assisting them with investigations, he was not a suspect and that the hunt for the suspects was in progress. She went on to deny rumours that a man who had been involved in the hijacking had handed himself over to the police.

Meanwhile, on Monday the Gauteng Premier visited the Morris family at their Reiger Park home. David Makhura described the incident as heartless and added that something like this could have been done by people who were under the influence of drugs since the community of Reiger Park is known for drug abuse. On Monday, community members in Reiger Park gathered outside the police camp demanding that the suspect who had surrendered to the police be handed over to them so that they could deal with him themselves.

In another similar incident, a boy that had also been driven away with in a kidnapping has been returned to his mother. Mongezi Phike and his father were driving together when their car was hijacked in Bronkhorspruit. The hijackers tied up Mongezi’s father and drove away with the toddler. He was found at a Johannesburg shelter and was united with his mother. His father is in hospital recovering from wounds he sustained when the hijackers trussed him up when they took his car and drove away with his son.