A SICK mother who sold her six-year-old daughter “for her eyes and skin” has been sentenced to life in prison.
Racquel “Kelly” Smith, from South Africa, was jailed alongside two accomplices after being found guilty of kidnapping and trafficking.
Facebook/Gayton McKenzieKidnapped Joshlin Smith, 6, was never seen again after being sold[/caption]
AFPRacquel “Kelly” Smith has been jailed[/caption]
The trial heard that the child, Joshlin Smith, was sold to a traditional healer for her body parts and never seen again.
Smith’s boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn were also jailed.
A witness said Smith had spoken of selling her children for 20,000 rand (£850) each.
Another testified that Smith had planned to sell the gir to a healer, called a “sangoma”, who wanted the child for her “eyes and skin”.
Joshlin vanished from her outside her home in Saldanha Bay, near Cape Town, in February 2024.
A desperate, highly-publicised search followed – and the girl was never found.
Judge Nathan Erasmus, sentencing, said he “drew no distinction” between the twisted trio’s roles in the crime.
He sentenced each of them to life in prison on the human trafficking charge, and a concurrent 10 years on the kidnapping charge.
The depraved bunch showed no emotion as they learned their sentences outside the local community centre in Saldanha.
Thursday’s sentencing follows a six-week trial that rocked South Africa.
Saldanha Bay is a fishing town 85 miles north of Cape Town.
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