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Baby Girl Kidnapping: Woman Appears In Court

A South African woman who allegedly stole a three-day-old baby from hospital and raised her until she was 17 has appeared in court.

The suspect, who is 50 and lives in Cape Town, was remanded on bail accused of kidnapping and pretending to be the child's mother.

She was arrested last week after the girl's biological parents discovered her identity.

The woman has been ordered to stay away from her and not to contact her husband, who will be a witness in the trial.

The girl, who is in the care of social services, was reunited with her biological parents, Morne and Celeste Nurse, last week. They had named her Zephany.

The case came to light after 'Zephany' unknowingly befriended her younger biological sister when she was enrolled at the same high school.

Nurses shocked by their resemblance contacted police, who carried out DNA tests that proved she was the baby taken from Groote Schuur hospital in 1997.

Her biological mother, Celeste Nurse, said she was overjoyed when police called and gave her the news.

"They said, 'Celeste, you're a mother again'. I said 'no', I couldn't talk."

When asked how she felt about the alleged kidnapper, Mrs Nurse replied she would like to thank her.

"When I see the woman that took her I would like to give her a hug and say 'thank you for what you've done, you've done a good job. Look at my daughter, she is beautiful inside and out'."

Mrs Nurse and her husband Morne said they never gave up hope of being reunited with 'Zephany', who turns 18 next week.

Each year, her siblings blew out candles on a birthday cake for their missing sister.

'Zephany', who has not been identified because she is a minor, thanked the public for their support earlier this week.

"Under the circumstances, I am doing fine," she said in a statement read by her lawyer.

The media have been asked not to name the alleged kidnapper for fear it could reveal the teenager's identity.

She was raised by the woman and her husband as an only child, and lived in the same area as her biological family.

The trial is scheduled to resume on 29 May.