Madonna being sued after star 'broke vow over visits'

[chanel]

The family of Madonna’s adopted Malawian daughter are threatening to take legal action against the singer, claiming she has broken her promise to let them see the girl.

They say they were guaranteed regular contact with Mercy James, now five, when the 52-year-old adopted her from an orphanage in June 2009. But they have not seen her since, despite Madonna having made two return visits to Malawi with Mercy. Now they have enlisted the help of the country’s leading civil rights group CILIC to prepare a legal case.

The child – whose 16-year-old mother died five days after giving birth – was raised by her grandmother and uncles, but placed in the care of the Kondanani Children’s Village when they could no longer look after her.

Mercy’s grandmother Lucy Chekechiwa, who raised the child, ekes out a living selling home-grown tomatoes at market in Thwonde village on the outskirts of Malawi’s southern city of Blantyre. Her mud-built home has no running water or electricity. The 72-year-old said the family always intended to bring Mercy back to live with them once she was six, when they believed her immune system would be strong enough to tackle the country’s endemic diseases.

Read more: Family of girl adopted by Madonna plan to sue after star 'broke vow over visits' | Mail Online

No good deed goes unpunished?