- Lilian Evali and her husband are heartbroken after their grandson was taken by court order and handed over to his father
- Despite raising the child for several years after their daughter’s death, her absent biological father was previously granted custody.
- Lilian told TUKO.co.ke that all they wanted was the welfare of the child, explaining that the little girl only knew them and never knew her father
They say that a parent is not necessarily the one who gives birth to a child, but the one who raises it. However, the law does not always follow that logic.
Lilian Evali and her husband, Tobias Omondi, are in great pain wondering how their beloved grandson is doing about three days after he was taken from them by court order.
What happened to Lilian Evali’s daughter?
The little girl at the center of this heartbreaking tragedy is Anna’s daughter, Lilian’s late daughter.
In an exclusive interview with TUKO.co.ke, a crying Lilian recounted her last moments with Anna until her death.
Also read
Ajuza cried when the court ordered the sale of her house after her son failed to pay child support
Anna completed her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam in 2018 and was prepared to join the Moi University.
However, in 2020 she got pregnant without telling her mother.
At that time she was at their home in Migori village and asked to return to Nairobi in 2021 before anyone found out that she was pregnant.
“When we were in Migori for the 2021 New Year celebrations, she told me she wanted to go back to Nairobi for a while and then she would come back. However, she was already two months pregnant when we left, but I didn’t know,” said Lilian.
He allowed his daughter to live with her sister in the Imara Daima area, where Anna was selling oranges and preparing to raise her child.
“It was her sister who informed me about the pregnancy. I told her it’s okay; she will give birth and we will find a way to help,” Lilian explained.
Anna gave birth on 22 July 2021 at Mbagathi Hospital.
At first things seemed fine, but when he was living with his aunt in the second month, he started having chest pains and breathing problems.
What was Anna’s last request?
Thinking that it was a minor problem, Lilian advised him to use antibiotics but told him to go to the hospital if the situation worsened.
“My younger sister took him to the hospital, and my daughter told her that she felt she might not come home alive,” Lilian remembered while shedding tears.
Anna left a message instructing her mother to raise her daughter and make sure no one else takes her.
“He told her that when I arrive I should take the child and that no one should claim that it is theirs,” Lilian said.
Lilian got the news of Anna’s death when she was on her way to Nairobi expecting to find her in the hospital.
Her brother-in-law took her and helped her move Anna’s body to the mortuary in Migori while they planned the funeral.
At that time, the child’s father did not show any interest in the child.
The little girl was only two months old. The father was seen only briefly during the funeral.
When did Anna’s father claim his son?
In 2025, the man went to the children’s office demanding custody of his three-year-old daughter.
Lilian refused to hand over her grandson saying she had promised to raise him until he turns 18.
The children’s officer initially allowed Lilian to bring the child every Friday.
She was later summoned to court, and that’s when the long legal battle over custody of the child began.
Anna’s family has since been in and out of court trying to maintain custody of the child.
Was Lilian put in jail?
On the day of the court’s decision, Lilian and her grandson were temporarily detained while waiting for the case to be heard.
Finally, the judge decided to give the child’s father custody, something that broke Lilian’s heart.
“They took the child because the judge decided that custody should go to his father. Even though he was given custody, the child did not know them and was crying because they were strangers to him,” he said.
In one video, the little girl hugs her grandmother while crying and calls her mother, not wanting to go with her father with her family.
Lilian’s biggest fear is still the well-being of the child, as she is worried that the little girl may have trouble adjusting to life without the environment and love she was used to.
“I don’t know his father well, nor do I know his family or where they live. Now they have taken my grandson. This is not fair. My problem is not that he is his father; what I care about is the welfare of the child,” he said.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
