Mother of 6-year-old daughter sold to traditional therapist for $1,000 was convicted in South Africa

A South African woman was convicted of abduction and sale of her 6-year-old daughter on Friday, shocking the country. More than a year ago, the girl disappeared and was not found.

Kelly Smith and two men (her boyfriend and their friends) were convicted of kidnapping and trafficking of Smith's daughter Joshlin, who was only 6 years old when she disappeared in February 2024.

Smith's full name is Racket Chantel Smith, initially the sympathy of her daughter when she disappeared. Community members gathered around her and volunteered to help police search for Joshlin in the dunes near impoverished sheds near Saldanha Bay, a small west coast town of Cape Town 75 miles north of Cape Town.

Missing girl in South Africa
The missing Joshlin Smith's mother, Kelly Smith, appeared in court in Vredenburg, South Africa on Thursday, March 7, 2024. AP

The pictures of Joshlin smiling and the pictures of her hair tied to her braids were aired on news stations across South Africa, with police subsequently launching a nationwide hunt.

Smith said she left Joshlin on the day she disappeared, and she and her boyfriend left, but the case was shocking when Smith was arrested.

A woman testified during the trial that Smith told her and two men sold to a traditional therapist for about $1,000 and he wanted the body parts of the child. The judge's judgment did not draw any conclusions on who the child was sold to or exactly what happened.

Smith, her boyfriend Jacquin Appollis and their friend Steveno Van Rhyn, face life in prison, said the judge said the verdict hearing will begin next week.

According to the BBC, Smith wiped his tears after reading the guilty sentence, and Van Rhyn smiled inexplicably.

When Judge Nathan Erasmus read out the guilty verdict, the people who attended the trial cheered and applauded.

According to the BBC, Smith's mother attended the meeting and after the hearing, she said she was "angry" at her daughter and did not want to see her.

“She has to tell me where my grandson is,” Amanda Daniels-Smith told reporters.

The trial was held at the Saldaha Bay Sports Centre, which has more space than the courts so that community members can attend.

According to the BBC, police said in a statement following the verdict that they will continue to look for Joshlyn.