Moroccan Grandparents Fight for Custody of Orphaned Toddler After Mother’s Murder

Imane’s friends, who lived in Cáceres (Valencia), had offered to keep the baby until his maternal grandparents living in Morocco came to pick him up. But the Extremadura authorities refused on the grounds that they are not direct relatives of the baby and decided to place the 14-month-old child under the care of social services.

Imane’s parents, Moustafa Saadaoui and Malia Lwai, arrived in Valencia a month after the tragic disappearance of their daughter, the time to obtain all the necessary authorizations to leave Casablanca for the first time in their lives. They took care to prepare all the necessary documentation to quickly obtain custody of their grandson. But after four months in Spain, they still have not managed to obtain the document authorizing them to return with the child to Morocco.

"Everything is on the right track," assure sources close to the case. Since their arrival in Spain, the grandparents have the right to visit their grandson twice a week. But they are "exhausted" and time is working against them, as they have taken seven-month visas, hoping to return to Morocco sooner where they have left two other minor children, aged 15 and 9, and Imane’s first daughter from a previous marriage.

In addition, Imane’s parents have hired a lawyer and joined the civil party in order to obtain justice. They are asking to repatriate the young woman’s body to Morocco to bury her with dignity. But the court continues to keep Imane’s body at the morgue for the needs of the investigation. Imane’s husband, accused of her murder, remains in prison.