A South African court on Thursday sentenced a woman to a life term for kidnapping and selling her six-year-old daughter, in a case that horrified the country.
Racquel Smith and two co-accused got life terms for human trafficking and a concurrent 10 years for kidnapping, Judge Nathan Erasmus ruled.
Earlier this month, the South African court found the woman guilty Friday of trafficking her six-year-old daughter who has been missing for more than a year, in a case that has outraged the nation.
The two-month trial heard statements from various witnesses that Racquel “Kelly” Smith had revealed to them that she had sold her daughter Joshlin in February 2024, including claims she was paid 20,000 rand ($1,085).
Judge Nathan Erasmus said the evidence of 35 state witnesses led him to find that Smith, 35, and her two co-accused – a boyfriend and a mutual friend – were guilty on the charges of human trafficking and kidnapping.
“I have already found that on the evidence before me, Joshlin was exchanged,” he had said.
“The evidence is from all scores there were payments, or at least the promise of payments,” he said, accusing Smith of regarding her daughter, who was aged six when she disappeared, as a “commodity”.
The trial was held in a community hall in the small fishing town of Saldanha Bay, about 135 kilometres (80 miles) north of Cape Town, where the case sparked outrage.
