A mother in Brighton, England, was jailed for nine years after she left her 20-month-old daughter to "starve to death" so she could have fun at a six-day birthday celebration.
The mother in question, Verphy Kudi, reportedly left her daughter Asiah alone at home for nearly a week and became so hungry and dehydrated that she did not even have the "strength to cry." Her death came just a few weeks before Christmas in 2019.
What Happened to Young Asiah Kudi?
Following Asiah's death, her mother put together a string of lies where she claimed that she cared for her daughter all day as she was unwell. However, her plan to make herself seem like a better person fell apart after chilling CCTV footage revealed what really happened when her daughter died.
The videos showed how the mother went out partying at various places in England while her daughter Asiah went through "almost unimaginable suffering" at their Brighton flat. The incident started when the 20-month-old girl's mother was captured on CCTV leaving her daughter alone on Dec. 5, 2019, according to The Sun.
The first place Kudi went to was Fulham, South West Longdon, where she met her boyfriend, had dinner and met some of their friends. Over the six days that followed, Kudi attended several parties in London, Coventry, and Solihull, but she claimed she was at home taking care of her daughter.
The mother said that she even broke down on one of the days she was out partying, noting that she missed her daughter and was "not used" to being away from her for so long. However, those concerns seemed to go away on Dec. 8, 2019, when she was seen having fun in a nightclub.
Verphy Kudi's Punishment
East Sussex senior coroner Penelope Schofield said at the time that there was nothing that professionals could have done to foresee Asiah's death. Authorities sentenced Kudi to nine years of imprisonment after she admitted to charges of manslaughter in 2021, BBC reported.
Schofield noted at the inquest that the 20-month-old girl's death was not something that they could have predicted in advance. She added that Kudi's actions and ignorance of her daughter's well-being were "criminal and not normal behavior."
It was also noted that when Kudi got home and found her daughter lifeless, she waited roughly three hours before calling emergency services. In the call, she told the operator that her baby girl was not waking up.
Medical personnel arrived after 6:00 p.m. to find the mother "incoherent, distressed, and distraught" with Asia lying on the floor. They quickly brought the little girl to the city's Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital, but they were unable to revive her, as per Express.
