A tussle has broken out over the religion of a deceased member of Malaysia's Mount Everest climbing team, with his wife saying he was Hindu but former colleagues claiming he converted to Islam.

Kaliammal Sinnasamy, a Hindu, was forced to file a court order to claim the body of her husband, former army commander M Moorthy, after a fracas broke out with state Islamic authorities over the burial rites.

"I don't want to let go of my husband. I want my husband," a tearful Kaliammal was quoted as saying in the Star daily today.

Authorities and former Muslim army colleagues said Moorthy, who died on Tuesday after being in a coma for over a month, had converted to Islam last year and changed his name to Mohammad Abdullah.

"The wife claims she has got no knowledge about the conversion at all and (that) he never practised Islam until the day he died," said A Sivanesan, a lawyer representing Kaliammal.

"He died as a Hindu, as far as she is concerned," he told AFP .

Sivanesan said the first time Kaliammal had heard claims her husband had converted was on Dec 1.

"One of the army persons told her he was a convert, and if he died his boy would be claimed by" state religious authorities, the lawyer said.

But Kaliammal said she had been unable to check with Moorthy, who was partially paralysed and lapsed into a coma on November 11 after falling from his wheelchair.

Part of 1997 Everest team

Upon his death on Tuesday, an ugle scene ensued as family members and the state Islamic religious department, or Jawi, fought over Moorthy's body at the mortuary.

"There was a tussle there between the family and Jawi, and then Jawi agreed they would not claim the body until after the court order," said Sivanesan.

Sivanesan said Moorthy's body would remain in the mortuary and a court hearing date would be set by the end of the month.

Besides claiming her husband's body, Kaliammal has also filed a civil suit against the religious authorities, the Malaysian government and the Kuala Lumpur hospital and is seeking to have her husband declared a Hindu.

Moorthy, 36, was part of Malaysia's 1997 Mount Everest team which helped two members to reach the peak in May that year.