Boy, three, starved to death by parents ‘became invisible to child services’
A three-year-old boy secretly buried in his family’s garden had become ‘invisible and lost’ to child services, a review has found.
Abiyah Yasharahyalah’s body was discovered in December 2022 in a 3ft deep grave after his parents Tai and Naiyahmi were evicted.
The couple, aged 42 and 43, fed Abiyah a vegan diet without any supplements after forming what they viewed as their own religion, following a legal framework Tai had invented.
This diet caused chronic malnutrition, leading to his death from a respiratory illness in early 2020.
His parents kept his body in their bed for eight days before burying him, and hiding his death from family and the authorities.
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When he was exhumed at the family home in Birmingham, a post mortem found he had broken, deformed bones, rickets, anaemia, stunted growth and dental disease.
His mother still insists that she believed she was doing the right thing at the time, but wishes she had done more research into the diet.
Over two years later, a review into Abiyah’s care has raised ‘very serious questions’ about local and national safeguarding systems.
Social workers were found to have shown little interest in how his parents’ lifestyle and religious beliefs impacted his health.
Even when police visited in 2019, no details were recorded about Abiyah, and his presence is ‘almost invisible’ on official records.
A safeguarding meeting was held in March 2020 where it was remarked that he had not been seen by a health visitor since he was six weeks old.
A follow-up inquiry was planned, but never held. There is no record of why this did not happen.
Reviewers from Birmingham’s Safeguarding Children Partnership said that lockdown likely contributed to this, but his parents were also ‘often distracted or diverted professional attention’ away from his safety.
The report said: ‘Parental resistance of advice, support or authority ultimately resulted in (Abiyah) becoming invisible and lost from professional view.’
The review also found that social workers need to be ‘confident to ask questions about different cultures and belief systems without fear of being perceived as discriminatory’.
Mum Naiyahmi said she had been in a ‘bubble’ which stopped her realising that her parenting had harmed Abiyah.
She added it was ‘hard to accept that my approach did not lead to the best outcomes for my child’.
Panel chair Annie Hudson said the review ‘highlights important learning, including about how Abiyah became invisible and lost from the view and oversight of professionals.’
Abiyah’s parents were arrested on December 9, 2022, five days before his body was discovered.
They were later found guilty of perverting the course of justice, causing or allowing the death of a child, and child neglect.
Tai, 42, was jailed for over 25 years, while Naiyahmi, 43, received 19 years.
The case has prompted renewed calls for better oversight and stronger protection for vulnerable children.
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