Cops tortured us — Joshlin suspects

INJURIES: MEN TELL COURT OF SEVERE ASSAULTS

- Cornelia le Roux

New details around the disappearance of Joshlin Smith emerged on the third day of the Saldanha girl's kidnapping and human trafficking trial, when two suspects claimed that police forced them to make confessions.

Jacquin "Boeta" Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn - the two co-accused with the missing girl's mother, Racquel "Kelly" Smith, said in their plea statements yesterday that they were tortured and assaulted by police officers.

On Monday, the trio pleaded not guilty on the charges of abduction and trafficking in persons for exploitation. The young girl vanished without a trace from the Middelpos informal settlement of Diazville on 19 February, 2024.

Yesterday, Appollis and Van Rhyn claimed police assaulted them when they were taken in for interrogation in March last year.

They said plastic bags were pulled over their heads and they were taken to deserted beaches and further assaulted.