THE family of Khanani Jacqueline Ngobeni (21) is having a tough December since their daughter went missing on Tuesday, 5 December.
The family from Protea Glen, Soweto, needs help to find her. They said they have tried to look for her everywhere with no luck.
The family told Daily Sun they suspect she was not in the right state of mind when she went missing since she was recovering from her mental relapse and was still on medication.
The Tshwane University of Technology student was last seen wearing brown pants and a white top.
According to her brother Thulani Ngobeni, Khanani went missing after going to buy a phone at Protea Glen Mall. She went to the mall and never returned home.
“On the day she went missing, she told my grandmother that she wanted to go to the mall to buy a cellphone. My grandmother then called our mother to inform her. After that she left to the mall and that was the last time she was seen,” Thulani said.
He said Khanani was facing what they suspected to be depression but couldn't confirm it since she refused to open up to the family.
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“There was a time this year where she was busy with semester tests. We called her several times, and we couldn’t reach her. She stays at res, and we live in Protea Glen. We tried to reach out to her, but we couldn’t get hold of her. As a family, we became worried and went to her res, and we found her,” he said.
Thulani said when they found her, she was not in a pleasant state.
"Her room was a mess, and she was also a mess. Our mother spoke to her, and we took her to a hospital for a medical checkup because she had told us that she wasn't feeling like herself," he said.
Thulani said surprisingly when she was taken to the hospital, she allegedly refused to be attended to by a doctor. The family then opted to take her back home.
He said during her stay at home she was prayed for by church people, but she allegedly told them to stop.
“We then opted to take her to Lesedi Hospital and when she was admitted, she decided not to say anything to anyone including the doctors and therefore couldn’t be diagnosed. We then took her to Life Poortview Hospital where she was admitted for 21 days and even there she refused to speak. We added 10 more days there and then she was discharged and came back home,” he said.
He said that after she came back from the hospital, she attended one therapy session, and she opened up during that session.
According to her brother, when she came back from the session she was back to her normal self and would clean the house cook and not lock herself in her room as usual but still refused to open up to them on what happened to her at varsity.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mavele Masondo confirmed that a docket of a missing persons was opened at Protea Police Station, and the search for the victim is underway.
