The aunt of a three-year-old boy who passed away after being subjected to a highly restrictive vegan diet has broken her silence, saying the guilt of not acting sooner will haunt her forever.
Abiyah Yasharahyalah, a toddler described by his aunt as “just a lovely child,” passed away in early 2020 from what prosecutors said was a respiratory condition exacerbated by severe malnutrition.
Highlights
- A three-year-old boy, Abiyah, lost his life in 2020 due to severe malnutrition linked to a strict vegan diet.
- The diet was imposed by his parents, followers of an obscure African religion.
- His aunt expressed remorse over not acting sooner, and is raising money for a headstone.
His parents, Naiyahmi and Tai, were sentenced in December 2024 to a combined 44 years in prison for causing or allowing his passing, along with additional charges related to child cruelty and obstructing justice.
Cassie, Naiyahmi’s sister, admitted she overlooked several warning signs that might have saved not only her nephew’s life, but her sister’s future as well.
The aunt of a toddler who lost his life after his religious parents subjected him to a restrictive diet says she ignored key signs that might have saved him
Image credits: nnaizamarah
Little Abiyah’s body remained buried for almost three years in the garden of a terraced house in Birmingham while his parents roamed free. When authorities uncovered the boy’s remains, what they found shook them to their core.
The child was discovered to have suffered from rickets, anemia, stunted growth, fractured bones, and extensive tooth decay.
Image credits: Sky News
A medical expert testified that even if a respiratory infection had been the direct cause of his passing, the effects of prolonged malnourishment were a “more than minimal” contributing factor.
Image credits: Sky News
Moreover, it was discovered that the boy’s body was kept in his parents’ bed for over a week before being subjected to a makeshift embalming ritual, carried out in accordance with his father’s religious beliefs.
They believed their son would reincarnate.
According to reports, the couple belonged to an obscure religious sect known as Royal Ahayah’s Witness, which combined elements of African spiritualism, New Age mysticism, and anti-Western ideology.
Image credits: West Midlands Police
Tai, a former medical genetics student and the son of a Nigerian government official, styled himself as a sovereign ruler of a fictional “kingdom.”
In following their religion, Abiyah’s parents enforced a restrictive diet made up almost entirely of fruit, nuts, and seeds, and avoided getting their son checked by any doctors.
Naiyahmi was negatively influenced by the boy’s father, who followed an obscure, anti-Western religion
Image credits: West Midlands Police
According to Cassie, signs of the religion's harmful effects were already causing damage to her family even before Abiyah was born.
The 47-year-old recalls how her sister had once been a doting, even overprotective mother. After a brief separation from Tai in 2016, Naiyahmi returned home pregnant and “shockingly thin,” staying with Cassie for six months after giving birth.
Image credits: West Midlands Police
“She was going to playgroups, coming out with me and my friends. She’d taken her headscarf off, started wearing makeup again. She was present,” Cassie said. “She never left [Abiyah] with anybody.”
Then, Cassie made a crucial mistake. Wanting for Abiyah to have both parents present for his first birthday, she invited Tai to their house.
Image credits: West Midlands Police
“I let her invite him to the party,” she said. “I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Shortly afterward, her sister, Naiyahmi, moved out and subsequently cut all contact with her family. She then started posting concerning messages on social media.
“We saw posts where they were denouncing the Western world and saying they didn’t agree with interracial relationships,” Cassie said.
“That caused a rift because our family is diverse. We all have mixed-race children.”
Cassie is now raising money to fund the installation of a headstone in her nephew’s memory
Image credits: West Midlands Police
Cassie said that while she resented her sister for walking away from the family and was deeply wary of her increasingly radical views, she ultimately chose to keep her distance out of respect.
A decision she regrets to this day.
Image credits: West Midlands Police
The first warning signs that something had happened to Aliyah came in the form of social media posts, or rather, the absence of them. Naiyahmi had abruptly stopped posting about her son.
“I just assumed it was to do with not wanting him online anymore,” Cassie explained. “But something felt off.”
Although she discussed her unease with her mother, Cassie admits she chose not to reach out.
“I didn’t want to be dragged back in,” she said. “She’d caused so much chaos over the years. Everyone was just kind of fed up with her.”
Image credits: nnaizamarah
In the months following Abiyah’s passing, Cassie says she received a message from Naiyahmi asking about her health. She responded, unaware of the tragedy that had already occurred.
“She told me she was going through something spiritual,” Cassie recalled. “I didn’t know then that Abiyah was already gone. Looking back through those messages now… it’s chilling. She said nothing.”
In December 2022, police running a welfare check uncovered the truth of what had happened, which eventually led to the parents’ arrest and subsequent trial.
Image credits: GoFundMe
On July 25, 2025, Cassie opened a fundraiser page hoping to pay for a headstone to honor Abiyah’s memory.
“The cost of the headstone, inscription, and installation is more than I can cover alone, so I’m reaching out for support,” she wrote.
“I want to change that by giving him the dignity of a proper headstone. Something simple, loving, and permanent, so that anyone visiting will know he was loved and remembered.”
"Nothing to do with veganism." Debate grew over the specific causes behind Abiyah’s passing
