A Kenyan couple, who had been residing in North Carolina in the US after winning the US Green Card lottery, have been engaged in an ongoing custody battle for their child since February 2023, following their falling out.

The man, identified as IM, and the woman, LG, strained their marriage and have consistently attempted to address their issues in an amicable manner. They got married in June 2019 and have a 2-year-old son together.

Their troubled marriage reached breaking point when the couple returned to Kenya in February, hoping to seek guidance from village elders and their parents in an effort to mend their relationship.

Upon arrival, the wife took away their son and refused to return with the man to North Carolina, where they’d been living together since 2021. In response, the father took the matter to court, filing a lawsuit against his estranged wife and mother-in-law for hiding his son in Kisii.

Senior Resident Magistrate M.W. Kibe ordered the couple to appear at the US Embassy in Nairobi to complete the necessary travel documents for their child, who had been staying in Kenya on a temporary US visit visa.

“That both parents shall present themselves at the American Embassy for purposes of processing travel documents/passports of the subject minor whose whereabouts remain unknown and need to be replaced,” read the order.

The boy’s father, IM, filed for a production order for the child through his lawyer, Danstan Omari. In his application, IM stated that they had travelled to Kenya in January 2023 to address their marital problems with his wife.

He revealed that despite their attempts to salvage the marriage, the mother, LG, declined to return the child when it was time to go back to the US. Their son has become the epicentre of a legal dispute between his parents.

IM informed the court that his wife had also obstructed his efforts to return to America with their son. In his court papers, IM allegedly accuses his wife of abducting their son when they travelled back to Kenya.

Furthermore, the boy was on a temporary US visit visa which expired once LG hid her son from the father. The father also discovered that his wife and her mother had removed his paternal details from the child’s medical records.

His major plea to the court was for orders to formalize his son’s immigration status, permitting him to return to the US with his child.

Reportedly, he had previously attempted to resolve the matter with his in-laws and request an audience with his young boy. However, at his in-laws’ place, he encountered hostility as they rejected the food items and shopping he had brought for them.

“When I went for the first defendant and the minor to take them to see my family as agreed, the defendant’s family refused.”

In his court application, he expressed shock at discovering that the boy had facial bruises on that day; bruises that were not present when he had last seen his son two weeks prior.

“They were extremely hostile to me and also refused to take the food that I had brought for the child. I also noted that the minor had injuries on his face that he did not have when I last saw him two weeks earlier,” the applicant wrote.

“I truly believe that these injuries were caused by the first defendant, her family, or due to the first defendant’s irresponsibility,” IM wrote on his son’s bruises.

IM tried to involve both families, village elders and friends to mediate, but his attempts proved futile. The couple had initially planned to return to the US together; he had even booked their tickets.

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However, he was compelled to postpone the trip due to the ongoing strife. Due to work, he had to leave Kenya without his family. He explained that while there was when he noted his son’s medical records had been tampered with.

Heartbreakingly, he also discovered that LG had travelled back to the US and relocated to Texas, without their son.

“The US Department of State further indicated to me that the minor had not returned to the United States,” read his application.

IM now claims that LG never cared for their son, asking the court to grant him legal custody. He told the court that his son would be at risk of abuse if he were not given custody.

LG, on the other hand, denied allegations by her husband, further accusing him of abuse and humiliation. She stated that IM used their son as leverage to torment and demean her.

In her court papers, she indicated that she would return to take their son who is in good condition under the care of her parents.

“The child is well fed, well clothed, kept warm, supplied with playing kits and toys and is very happy and full of joy in my parent’s residence,” she wrote in her defence papers.

In the matter that poses a complex legal challenge for the US DoS who have already been dragged in, LG claims that her husband never cared for her son’s well-being and only wanted to mistreat her.

A US District Court judge awarded the couple joint custody in September 2023 but granted IM the sole authority to retrieve the boy from Kenya to the US.