A mother has been sentenced to life in prison after she kidnapped and trafficked her own six-year-old daughter.
Kelly Smith, whose full name is Racquel Chantel Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno Van Rhyn were convicted of the crimes in South Africa after Joshlin Smith disappeared from Saldanha, in Western Cape, last year.
The youngster has not been seen since and remains missing following a nationwide police hunt.
Image: Kelly Smith, the mother of Joshlin Smith, arrives for her sentencing hearing.
Pic: Reuters
Image: Jacquen Appollis and Steveno Van Rhyn.
Pic: Reuters
During the trial, one witness said Smith had told her she sold her daughter to a sangoma, a traditional healer, for 20,000 rand (£830).
She added the girl was wanted for her “eyes and skin”.
The three defendants had previously pleaded not guilty.
Smith won sympathy across South Africa in the early days of Joshlin’s disappearance and neighbours even helped the police in their search efforts.
Image: Six-year-old Joshlin Smith’s informal settlement home, where she disappeared. Pic: Reuters
The mother claimed she had left Joshlin with Appollis on the day she disappeared, before Smith too was arrested.
In court documents, the prosecution said Smith had been planning to sell not just Joshlin, but her other two children as well.
They also said Smith and Joshlin were seen getting into a white vehicle with a bag of clothes the day the girl was reported missing.
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