The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) is appalled with yet another tussle over the body of a deceased person whose religious status has come under dispute.

The latest incident the CFM was referring to involved 71-year-old Rayappan Anthony who died last week with a question mark hanging over his religious status.

His family said that he was born a Roman Catholic and had six children from his Christian marriage. However, he converted to Islam in 1990 when he married a Muslim woman.

According to the family, he reconverted to Christianity in 1999, and subsequently declared his new status by way of a statutory declaration in front of a commissioner of oaths.

The relevant documents prepared by a lawyer and executed by the commissioner for oaths, were submitted to the National Registration Department, which accepted the declaration and reinstated Anthony's religious status to Christianity.

A commotion broke out at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital mortuary last Thursday when Anthony's family and the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) turned up to claim his body after he died the previous day.

Mais then referred the matter to the Shah Alam Syariah Court which ruled on Friday that Anthony, or Muhammad Rayappan Abdullah, must be buried according to Islamic rites.

However, the order has to be endorsed by the Federal Territory Syariah Court before the body can be taken for burial as Anthony died in Kuala Lumpur.

Civil suit

The entire episode has put Anthony's family under duress and they should be allowed to bury him according to their Christian faith, said CFM's chairman and executive committee member Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing in a statement.

"Any obstruction in this regard, would directly contravene Article 11 of our constitution which guarantees the right of a person to profess and practice his faith," he added.

He urged all parties involved in this matter to respect the professed faith of the deceased and that the matter be contained by the authorities, so that the family may not be subjected to undue duress.

Meanwhile in a related development, Anthony's family today filed a civil suit to claim his body from Kuala Lumpur Hospital mortuary so that they could give him a Christian burial. The matter will be heard on Dec 11.

In the past year, bitter disputes over a dead person's religious status have been a recurring event . The most prominent case so far has been the fight between the Hindu family of Everest hero M Moorthy and the Islamic authorities.