Woman Who Sold Daughter To Be Used For 'Medicine' Gets Life In Jail..

A mom who sold her 6-year-old daughter so her skin and eyes could be cut out and used by a “traditional healer” has been sentenced to life in prison in South Africa.

Racquel “Kelly” Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, and their friend Steven van Rhyn were all handed life sentences more than a year after the mysterious disappearance of Joshlin Smith from outside her home near Cape Town.

When Joshlin first disappeared, her mother was a figure of sympathy, and pictures of the girl’s striking green eyes, pigtails and broad smile were shared across the country.
Joshlin Smith mysteriously vanished from outside her home near Cape Town last year.
Smith showed no emotion as her sentence was handed down, bringing an end to an eight-week trial that had to be moved to a local stadium so horrified members of the community could bear witness.

She admitted to selling her daughter to a traditional healer, or sangoma, for 20,000 rand ($1,100), and said the girl was desired for her “eyes and skin,” a witness told the court.
Joshlin’s body has still not been found despite an extensive nationwide search since she went missing in February 2024.

The trio are believed to have sold the little girl to the healer to fund their drug addictions, the court heard.
Mom-of-three Smith was described as manipulative and had shown “no indication of remorse” or concern over her daughter’s disappearance, Judge Nathan Erasmus said in court.

All three were also sentenced to a concurrent 10 years imprisonment for kidnapping.
“I am also ordering the entry of your names to the child protection register. There is nothing that I can find that is redeeming and deserving of a lesser sentence than the harshest I can impose,” Judge Erasmus told the defendants.

There were cheers in the courtroom as the verdict was read out.
Joshlin’s distraught grandmother, Amanda Smith Daniels, was present in court for the verdict, wearing a white shirt emblazoned with images of her granddaughter.

During the initial search for the girl, one government minister offered a one-million-rand reward ($54,000) for Joshlin’s safe return.

Sympathy for Smith evaporated when prosecutors first alleged that she had sold her daughter to a healer.

Since the start of the trial in March, witnesses, including the girl’s former teacher and a pastor, said that Smith had told them of the planned sale of her child as far back as 2023.
The ongoing search for Joshlin has now been extended beyond South Africa’s borders, police said on Thursday.

From Nypost