He said that, while reading into the history of his people, he started “another spiral of resentment”.
He changed his name and moved to Birmingham shortly before meeting his wife at a music event in the city.
The couple started a relationship and got married in 2015, before Mrs Yasharahyalah became pregnant with Abiyah.
Mr Yasharahyalah told the court the couple intended to have a polyamorous relationship, to create a “community of families”.
He moved to London, to “propagate” his culture and while there met a woman who became a “sister wife”, eventually moving in with the couple at their home in Birmingham.
The court had previously heard the prosecution told the jury Abiyah died between December 2019 and January 2020 and would have been approximately three years and nine months old.
The prosecution claims he was found to have been “severely malnourished”, with broken bones, rickets, anaemia, dental disease and stunted growth.
Mr and Mrs Yasharahyalah are also accused of neglect and perverting the course of justice.
The trial continues.
