By ABDULHAKIM SHERMAN
newsdesk@reporter.co.ke
A top hotel manager has been sued by his former wife over custody of their only son.
The Serena Hotels Tanzania General Manager Raheem Mehdi Azid Azad has been sued by his former wife Mutheu Agatha Khimulu over custody of their only son.
Mutheu accuses Raheem of manipulating authorities in Tanzania, which led to the release of his passport and that of the son despite a court order that required him to deposit his travel documents.
She said on August 3 she obtained orders by the High Court of Tanzania directing Raheem to release the minor to her but he declined.
She says during the August holiday the child was living with her ex-husband in Tanzania.
Mutheu now claims that her ex-husband has taken captive of the child and deserted him in a boarding facility away from her as she is in Kenya and the father is in Tanzania.
Mutheu said in papers they were married on February 2, 2002 under the African Christian Marriage. However after the child was born Raheem started to be irksome and irritable which slowly turned into cruelty against her and the child.
“Our marriage did not seem to go in the right direction as I feared the security of the child and mine as Raheem was wild with both of us. The marriage turned sour and the relationship between us was strained putting chances of our marriage survival at the edge of the balance,” Mutheu states in the suit papers.
Mutheu further told Justice William Musyoka she was surprised to learn that despite the court orders her ex-husband managed to sneak the child on August 8, from Tanzania to the United Kingdom.
“The minor is alone in the UK and hence vulnerable and irreparable harm and should be in the hands of a responsible person with immediate effect. The child continues to be denied motherly love, care and attention as guaranteed under both Kenya and international laws which the country is a signatory to,” Mutheu said.
The woman who is currently hospitalized said she has been denied any direct communication with her son against the parental responsibility agreement they signed when their marriage broke.
Mutheu told justice Musyoka she had been accompanied by her child while she was pursuing her master’s degree in the UK when Raheem who she says comes from a wealthy and influential Ismailia family that resides in London falsely accused her of intentions of injuring the child.
She alleges that he used his influence and she was arrested and the child taken away from her by force.
“The father of the minor has parental responsibility of the child equal to the mother and she has a right of direct communication with the said child,” Mutheu states in the court papers.
Through lawyer Njoroge Kimani the woman told Justice Musyoka that Raheem who is a Kenyan has become a persistent fugitive of justice and he has been disobeying court orders with impunity.
She said their marriage turned sour and they divorced which culminated into the signing of a parental responsibility agreement on May 15, 2008.
“I was to have actual custody of the child and joint legal custody with my ex-husband. We were also bound by the agreement to have mutual consultations on issues regarding the child’s school fees,” Mutheu told the court.
She is seeking orders to have their son brought to Kenya. The case will be heard on September 29.