CAPE TOWN — A South African woman has been sentenced to life in prison for selling her 6-year-old daughter, who remains missing more than a year after her disappearance, in a case that has shocked the nation.

Kelly Smith, along with her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and a friend, Steveno van Rhyn, were convicted of human trafficking and kidnapping and received life sentences for their roles in the crime. Each was also handed an additional 10-year sentence for kidnapping.

The sentencing was delivered Thursday by Judge Nathan Erasmus at a sports center in the town of Saldanha Bay, northwest of Cape Town, where the trial had been relocated to accommodate local community members.

Joshlin, Smith’s daughter, vanished in February 2024. Her smiling photograph became a symbol of a nationwide search effort, initially prompting widespread sympathy for Smith. But the investigation took a dark turn when she and the two men were arrested.

During the trial, a witness testified that Smith had confessed to selling her daughter to a traditional healer for approximately $1,000.

The judge did not rule on the exact nature of the transaction or the buyer's identity but concluded that the child was trafficked for slavery or practices resembling slavery.

Joshlin's whereabouts remain unknown, and the case continues to haunt the Saldanha Bay community. — Agencies