Father 'failed' Khyra over death

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7422404.stm

Version 0 of 1.

The father of a seven-year-old girl who allegedly starved to death says he feels like he "failed" his daughter.

An inquiry has been launched by social services into the death of Khyra Ishaq, who lived in Handsworth, Birmingham.

Angela Gordon, 33, and Junaid Abuhamza, 29, have been charged with neglect in connection with her death.

Ishaq Abu Zaire, who is estranged from Khyra's mother, said that he felt guilty about what had happened and had "let Khyra down".

Khyra's five siblings are now in foster care.

Mr Abu Zaire told the BBC: "Of course I feel guilty.

"Look, I have failed my child. My child is in a morgue at the moment.

"Maybe I should've tried really, really hard but at the time how were you supposed to do this?

"I'm the parent of this child, of course I feel guilty. My child is in a morgue. I have let her down."

'Skinny girl'

Khyra's father had been out of the country until Saturday and he said he had not seen his children in more than a year.

Her father said social services had prevented him from seeing Khyra's body or any of her siblings.

He said he had no idea what was going on and had not been told any more about Khyra's death.

Mr Abu Zaire said: "I am completely out of the picture.

Two people have been charged in connection with Khyra's death

"I don't know anything."

He said he had a meeting with social services over the weekend but still was unclear about the situation.

"This person said to me Khyra was a skinny girl anyway," he said.

"That's what these people are telling me after all that. And they said that from her being slim to the situation that she got to can happen quickly and we might not even notice it."

An independent panel met in Birmingham on Friday to discuss Khyra, who died in hospital last Saturday.

In a statement released on Saturday Birmingham City Council said: "We endeavoured to contact the close members of the family as soon as we possibly could after the death.

"Khyra was not in the care of social services at the time of her death."