[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A South African woman has been sentenced after trafficking her own daughter — and this story is worse than even that horrible sentence sounds…
Racquel “Kelly” Smith of Cape Town has been found guilty of human trafficking and kidnapping following the disappearance of her daughter. Back in February 2024, per Associated Press, 6-year-old Joshlin Smith was reported missing, launching a nationwide effort to locate her.
Shortly after the child’s disappearance, Smith and her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, as well as their friend Steveno van Rhyn were arrested. And before you find out why, you may want to brace yourself.
Their trial began in March of this year, and during those eight weeks, a witness claimed the mother and the two men SOLD the little girl. Kelly told the witness Joshlin was gone, “on a ship, inside a container, and they were on the way to West Africa”.
Kelly had sold her daughter to a “sangoma” — or a traditional healer. What makes this even more disturbing, per reports from the BBC, is that the healer the girl was likely sold to specifically wanted the girl for her “eyes and skin”. Selling a child for parts? What the f**k…
The outlet also reported on a pastor who was on the witness stand, who claimed Smith spoke in the past about selling her children for $20,0000 rand (which is about $1,100 USD) — she allegedly went as low as $275 USD, though. Absolutely horrific.
Related: IRL Gone Girl Sherri Papini Reverses Stance On Fake Kidnapping
Multiple outlets reported how emotionally charged the courtroom was during this hearing, with even translators choking up while trying to do their job. At one point, a video of Joshlin laughing was played for the court, which had most everyone in attendance weeping for the poor girl.
All three defendants who were charged in connection to Joshlin’s disappearance were convicted — and have now been sentenced to life in prison for trafficking, as well as 10 years each for kidnapping. Judge Nathan Erasmus said during the sentencing on Thursday:
“There is nothing that I can find that is redeeming or deserving of a lesser sentence.”
In a victim’s impact statement, Joshlin’s grandmother Amanda Smith-Daniels — Smith’s own mother — asked her daughter:
“How do you sleep [and] live with yourself?”
Bianca van Aswegen — a criminologist and national coordinator at Missing Children South Africa — told the BBC that even with the three adults being behind bars, “the matter of fact is that nobody knows where Joshlin is and I think that’s the big question that South Africa is still asking.”
Heartbreaking.
We truly hope by some miracle Joshlin is found safe and returned home. Our heart goes out to her family and loved ones.
[Image via Executive Mayor Andrè Truter/Facebook/South African Police Service]
The post South African Woman SOLD Her 6-Year-Old Daughter To A ‘Healer’ — Who Wanted Her Eyes & Skin!! appeared first on Perez Hilton.