Dead child was undiscovered in garden for years
· BBC NewsEleanor Lawson
BBC News, West Midlands
David Lumb
BBC Midlands Today
A couple accused of child cruelty towards their son, who was found buried in a back garden, denied his existence to the authorities, a court has heard.
Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah, aged 42 and 43, are accused of causing or allowing the death of their three-year-old son, Abiyah Yasharahyalah.
He was found in a back garden in Handsworth, Birmingham, in December 2022.
When he was exhumed, he was found to have been "severely malnourished", with broken bones, rickets, anaemia, dental disease, and stunted growth.
The prosecution suggested that Abiyah died between December 2019 and January 2020 and would have been approximately three years and nine months old.
The couple, who are also accused of perverting the course of justice, are standing trial at Coventry Crown Court.
Prosecutor Jonas Hankin told the court that the pair had prioritised their cultural practices and beliefs over their son's welfare, "with disastrous consequences".
The court heard the couple did not believe in western medicine and preferred traditional practices, such as herbs and superstition.
They had a strict vegan diet and lived increasingly unconventionally.
Witness statements read to the court said the couple had rejected UK sovereignty and citizenship, and were living off-grid.
Multiple witnesses also expressed concern about the couple's health and strength, saying they had been seen out in public struggling to walk, and that Mrs Yasharahyalah had been very thin while pregnant.
Abiyah's existence came to light when the authorities found photos and videos of him on his father's social media accounts, when there were concerns about the welfare of their other child.
An interim care order, placing that child in the joint care of the local authority, was granted in December 2022.
A court order had been sought in order to give the child medical treatment.
In a meeting with a representative from the local authority after the care order was enforced, Mrs Yasharahyalah was confronted with pictures of Abiyah on social media and was asked if she had any previous children.
She was told: "I can freely search and I believe that I've found photos of you and Tai from some time ago with a child."
Mrs Yasharahyalah said: "I've got no information to give you, so it's irrelevant right now."
The court heard that emails sent between the pair on the same day, to and from the same email address, said: "You have no other children [...] make this clear he is your only child."
In an email sent after Mrs Yasharahyalah was asked if she had had another child, it said: "Let him locate him lol."
Another message said: "No one will micromanage our lives, I do not owe anyone an explanation, an indigenous family."
An email from that day also said that they should say that Abiyah was "one of the victims of the Covid agenda".
Not long after this, the couple admitted Abiyah was dead and they were arrested on the same day.
Between 12 and 15 December, Abiyah's body was exhumed from a garden on Clarence Road in Handsworth, from which the couple had been evicted earlier that year.
They then went to live in a shipping container in Glastonbury, before moving into a caravan when they were asked to leave.
Mr Yasharahyalah said they had not registered Abiyah's birth because it was not part of their culture and said they were entitled to a private burial.
Both defendants deny neglect, causing or allowing the death of a child and perverting the course of justice.
The trial continues.
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