A BASINGSTOKE mother has made a desperate plea to her ex-husband to return their four-year-old son to the UK after three years of keeping him in Kenya.

Distraught Charlotte Morris, 24, has described her pain at not being able to watch their child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, grow up.

She claimed she was tricked by her Shiv Singh Benawara into thinking he was taking their little one on holiday to meet his family in Africa three years ago.

But at the end of their trip, Shiv told her that he and the boy would be remaining in Kenya.

After staying silent for years as she tried to find a solution to bring her child home, Charlotte is now speaking out about the ordeal in the hope that public criticism will push Shiv into reconsidering.

Speaking to Take a Break magazine, Charlotte said she has "begged" Shiv to let her see her little boy.

"Shiv lets me talk to him but it's not enough," she told the magazine. "I fear one day all contact will be cut off and I'll lose my boy forever.

"I want to see him grow up, so I'm sending out a desperate plea to Shiv: Please, give me back my son."

The mother-of-one married Shiv in Kenya when she was 18 and after falling pregnant with their son two months later, she moved back to the UK.

The couple split up when their son was three months old and she returned to Basingstoke.

Around eight months later, Charlotte told the magazine that Shiv got in touch out of the blue to request a custody hearing.

Charlotte was granted custody while Shiv was awarded visitation rights: seeing his boy one weekend a month.

But twelve weeks into the arrangement, Shiv asked if he could take their son to Kenya so he could meet the rest of his family. Charlotte agreed but soon lived to regret the decision.

At the end of the 60-day trip, Shiv called Charlotte to say he would not be returning to the UK with their son.

Deep down, Charlotte said she "always feared" this might happen.

After calling 999 to report the abduction, she was left devastated to find the authorities were powerless to act.

She travelled to Kenya to plead with Shiv but to no avail.

After launching legal action, their son was made a ward of court and Shiv was ordered to return by law but Shiv ignored the decision.

"Now he's been gone for three years, I feel broken hearted. I miss my son and he needs his mum," she said.