Was she searched by ‘healer’ for her green eyes and pale skin?

A 6-year-old girl who disappeared last summer from her home in South Africa was possibly sold to a local heal who wanted her for her eye and skin color, a witness has testified in the criminal trial against the missing girl’s mother.

BBC reports The fact that a neighbor testified last week that Kelly Smith had led to her about a plan to sell her 6-year-old daughter Joshlin Smith to a traditional healer who “wanted her for her eyes and skin.”

Joshlin, the green-eyed 6-year-old, disappeared in February 2024. Her mother, Kelly, is currently on trial for kidnapping and accusations Cap’s vote.

Smith’s boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn are also at trial and have not relied on allegations of human trafficking and kidnapping, the BBC reported.

Several witnesses, including neighbor Lourentia Lombaard, a local pastor, and one of Joshlin’s teachers have testified that Smith trusted them about the idea of ​​selling Joshlin or her two other children for money, according to the BBC.

Lombaard, Smith’s neighbor and family friend, claimed in court last week that Smith had told her that she sold Joshlin to a healer known as a “Sangoma,” according to the BBC.

“I did something stupid,” Lombaard Smith reminded and said, according to the outlet, “I sold my child to a Sangoma.” Lombaard then told the court Smith offered money to her and others who knew about the plan to sell Joshlin in exchange for their silence.

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The neighbor also told the court that she saw Smith pack a bag of Joshlin’s clothes and then saw the mother and her daughter get into a white car with a woman outside their home, according to the BBC’s court report. Lombaard assumed to the court that the woman with Smith was the “person who (allegedly taking) Joshlin wanted her to her eyes and skin,” reported the BBC.

The South African broadcasting company as well reported That another neighbor, Paulina Tshosa, testified during the trial that she witnessed Smith to pull Joshlin to a cabin during an argument the night before she disappeared.

Joshlin’s teacher later testified that Smith had told her during the search for Joshlin that her daughter was “on a ship, in a container, and they were on her way to West Africa,” according to the BBC’s court report.

The outlet reported that a woman who is believed to be a healer had been arrested and questioned during the search for Joshlin but was released based on lack of evidence, according to the BBC.