A South African woman was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for selling her 6-year-old daughter.
Kelly Smith was sentenced by a judge alongside two others, her boyfriend and another man, who also received life sentences.
All three were convicted earlier this month on kidnapping and human trafficking charges.
In February 2024, Smith’s daughter, Joshlin, disappeared at the age of 6, leading to an extensive search by the police across South Africa. Unfortunately, she remains missing.
Smith, along with her boyfriend, Jacquen Appollis, and their associate, Steveno van Rhyn, received life sentences for charges of human trafficking as well as additional 10-year sentences for kidnapping.
Their sentences were read out by Judge Nathan Erasmus at a sports centre in the west coast town of Saldanha Bay.
The trial was moved to the sports centre so members of the local community could attend.
Smith â whose full name is Racquel Chantel Smith â was initially a figure of sympathy when her daughter went missing.
The local community came together, offering their support and joining law enforcement in the search for Joshlin through the sand dunes surrounding their impoverished area of shacks near Saldanha Bay, located about 120 kilometers north of Cape Town.
A photograph of Joshlin smiling and with her hair tied in pigtails was broadcast by news stations across South Africa during the hunt for her.
Smith said she had left Joshlin with Appollis on the day she disappeared, but the case took a shocking twist when Smith was arrested.
A woman testified during the trial that Smith had told her she and the two men had sold Joshlin for around $1000 to a traditional healer who wanted the child for her body parts.
The judge’s verdict did not make any conclusions on who the child was sold to or exactly what happened to her, but said she had been sold for slavery or practices similar to slavery.
