Rosdeep with Mohammed Abdi, who was shot dead in gang warfare last year. A shocked local community gather to listen to a police appeal before joining the search for Mikaeel, whose body was found early on Saturday

London, Jan. 19: An Indian-origin woman has been “charged in connection” with the death of her three-year-old son, Mikaeel, in Scotland.

Rosdeep Kular, 33, is a single mother who has had five children by two men — the first three by a Nigerian taxi driver and the two others by a Pakistani. Her close friends have included another Pakistani who frequented her home until he was shot dead last year in gang warfare between drug dealers.

Rosdeep (also known as Rosie), who runs a mobile health and beauty studio, was detained on Friday, charged on Saturday when Mikaeel’s body was discovered in the early hours in woods, and will appear at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday.

Hundreds from the devastated local community in Scotland turned out in response to a police appeal to search for Mikaeel. He was reported missing by his mother on Thursday evening.

There is now a huge display of floral tributes plus such toys as teddy bears outside the boy’s home as the full extent of the tragedy has hit home.

It is worth stressing that Rosdeep has not been charged with her son’s murder but “in connection” with his death.

Indian roots

Rosdeep’s father, Gurbux Kular, had come from India and died at 43 when she was in her teens. After studying at comprehensive Balwearie High School in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Rosdeep graduated with an HND (higher national diploma) in beauty therapy from Fife College.

Her mother, Harjinder, 59, is currently married to her third husband, Dr Bangarpet Krishnaswamy, who appears to be well to do as the director of East Neuk Healthcare, which owns a 40-bed nursing home in Anstruther, Fife. The couple live in a large two-storey detached home on a small upmarket estate, with a navy Jaguar and dark blue Volvo parked in front of their property.

On Friday, Harjinder said: “This has been such a difficult time and my head is all over the place. I just want to be there for my daughter but I am appreciative for all that has been done to help us. I’m very sad. We just want Mikaeel home.”

Marriage

At 24, Rosdeep met a Nigerian, Omotoso Adekunle Adekoya, then a student but now a 35-year-old taxi driver, and became pregnant. The couple married in Glenrothes in 2004 and their first child, a son, Tarun, was born three months later. Another son, David, was born in 2006 and a daughter, Renuka, two years later.

But the couple split up although they are not divorced. Adekoya lives five minutes away from Rosdeep’s home in Ferry Gait Crescent in the Muirhouse area of Edinburgh. Until 18 months ago, she had lived some 20 miles away in Dunvegan Avenue, Kirkcaldy — this is where Mikaeel’s body was found in nearby woods just after midnight on Friday.

From Nigeria, Rosdeep’s former mother-in-law said she had initially liked her daughter-in-law who was a “well-groomed lady”. But her opinion changed because “she liked going to clubs and getting drunk. She always wanted to go out to parties. Omotoso never allowed it — and that’s why she left.”

She had never really approved of her son’s marriage in the first place but “Omotoso insisted so I had no choice”.

Pakistani lover

Rosdeep soon acquired a Pakistani boyfriend — he has yet to be named — and had twins by him, Mikaeel and Ashika, who were born in Kirkcaldy in May 2010. The Pakistani father of her children has had no hand in their upbringing. The police have spoken to the man.

Another Pakistani who visited her at home was Mohammed Omar Abdi, 25. He was shot on April 26 last year, during a high-speed chase between two rival gangs in the early hours.

Abdi was facing drug charges at the time after officers found a “significant quantity” of crack cocaine and cash during a raid.

Six men are to be tried for Abdi’s murder.

The day after Abdi’s death, Rosdeep put a photograph of herself with him on Facebook.

Domestic set-up

She has certainly appeared to be an independent spirited woman.

She lived as a single mother with her five children. In one online posting, she joked: “Just me, myself and I... oh yeah, with a brood of five monsters, six if you count the man indoors!”

In another, she added: “Work full time which is a bit crapiola but it’s got to be done eh!”

After a busy evening a couple of years ago, she posted: “I’m good, slightly hungover lol but nothing I can’t handle.”

Mikaael was last seen on Wednesday night when his mother put him to bed. She reported him missing after going to check on him at 7.15am the following day and finding he was not there. The little boy usually slept in the same room as his twin sister but was alone on Wednesday night.

His jacket and shoes were missing. That night the temperature in the woods where his body was found had dropped to 2.3°C.

There was a comment from Mikaeel’s aunt, Pandeep Kular, 37, but before she knew her sister had been charged: “We’re devastated. I’m with the kids. No. I’m not aware of anything. I’m just with my family in the house. That’s all I can say. We’ve just lost him.”