A South African woman has been sentenced to life in prison for selling her six-year-old daughter.
The judge sentenced Kelly Smith along with two others – her partner and another man – who also received life sentences.
All three were found guilty earlier this month of kidnapping and human trafficking charges.
Smith's daughter, Joshlyn, disappeared in February 2024, when she was six years old, sparking a massive manhunt by South African police. She has yet to be found.
Smith, her partner Jacqueline Appollis and their acquaintance Steven van Rijn were sentenced to life imprisonment for human trafficking, as well as 10 years each for kidnapping.
Their sentences were handed down by Judge Nathan Erasmus at the Saldanha Bay Sports Centre on the west coast. The trial was moved to the sports venue so that locals could attend.
Smith – full name Raquel Chantelle Smith – initially attracted sympathy when her daughter went missing. Community members rallied around her and offered to help police search for Joshlyn in the sand dunes near their poor shantytown neighborhood of Saldanha Bay.
A photo of a smiling Joshlyn with pigtails was broadcast on news channels across South Africa during the search for her.
Smith claimed she left Joshlyn with Appollis on the day she disappeared, but the situation took a shocking turn when Smith was arrested.
During the trial, the woman testified that Smith told her that she and two men sold Joshelyn for about £750 to a traditional healer who wanted to have a child for her body parts.
In his ruling, the judge made no findings about who the child was sold to or what exactly happened to her, but noted that she was sold into slavery or a practice similar to slavery.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
