Nearly a year after baby Lemicah Faith Arendze died due to hydrocephalus, scammers are using her photograph which was published in the Daily Voice, to solicit donations.
Horrified mom Rozanne Arendze, 31, of Delft, says in March she noticed a Facebook page with a photo of her and her seven-month-old daughter.
She immediately contacted the person behind the post, Wilson Mokati SA and Obasi Ugochukwu, who shared it on a page named “Things Every Girl Should Know About Love.”
In his post made in March, Mokati wrote: “Please say a prayer for my baby, I know your prayers will work for him, Don’t ignore.”
While Obasi wrote: “Please if you see my post, don’t pass me by. I request for help because my baby is very sick. Please share this post to 5 Groups so I can locate my helper and drop it for my prayer for my baby.”
Lemicah’s story touched people as far as New Zealand after her family spoke about her condition to the Daily Voice.
Hydrocephalus is a condition where excess fluid in the brain leads to the head growing abnormally large.
Little Lemicah underwent surgery at Tygerberg Hospital where a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt was placed inside her head to help relieve pressure on the brain.
Her head size of 96cm was reduced to 83cm.
Unfortunately, she died in July last year.
Rozanne says skelms are now exploiting her child’s memory.
She has reported the skelms to Facebook, and even commented on the posts herself to say that she is the mother of the child.
“It breaks my heart how they are exploiting my angel, I think they wanted to make money out of my baby,” she says.
“I first thought it was an old Facebook memory because we were in the newspaper.
“It made me sick to my stomach because we have made peace with her passing.”
Facebook has responded by saying that she must block the scammers, calling it “distasteful”.
Rozanne is now preparing to open a case with the police: “When I sent a message to these people, they did not respond, but blocked me.
“I felt so helpless. I will be opening a case with the police because this is fraud.”
The Daily Voice attempted to contact the persons in the profiles, but discovered that they were fake.
Daily Voice
