Single mum intends to challenge children's unilateral conversion
Single mother Loh Siew Hong intends to challenge the unilateral conversion to Islam of her three children through a judicial review, said her lawyer Shamsher Singh Thind.
Regardless of public opinion, he reminded that the three children – a pair of 14-year-old twins and a 10-year-old – were converted without Loh’s (above) consent, despite her having full custody over them.
“The Federal Constitution states that...
Single mother Loh Siew Hong intends to challenge the unilateral conversion to Islam of her three children through a judicial review, said her lawyer Shamsher Singh Thind.
Regardless of public opinion, he reminded that the three children – a pair of 14-year-old twins and a 10-year-old – were converted without Loh’s (above) consent, despite her having full custody over them.
“The Federal Constitution states that the faith of the child will be determined by both parents of the children, not by the wishes of the children or other third parties,” Shamsher said, as reported by FMT.
If the children’s conversions were not quashed, it will cause further problems in the future such as with the National Registration Department (NRD) when they reach adulthood and if they decide to marry non-Muslims, he added.
Shamsher said a letter of demand had been sent on Wednesday to the registrars of converts in three states in order to ascertain the status of the children’s conversion, with one week given to them to reply.
So far, he has not received a reply.
Shamsher said it was necessary for them to send a letter to three states because there is a lack of clarity as to where the children were converted.
This is because the children were under the care of a woman in Penang and the police had later said they were in Perlis.
As an added measure, Shamsher said they also sent a letter to the registrar of converts in Kedah as Loh’s ex-husband had lived in Sungai Petani.
“Yes, I have heard the Perlis mufti say the children were converted in his state, but I want something in writing. Until then, it remains as hearsay,” the lawyer said.
If the state registrars were to confirm that the children were not on their converts’ register, Shamsher said they would drop the judicial review.
“Otherwise, we will file a review, with or without the letter. We will ask for a court order to compel them to cancel the certificate of conversion, in the event there is one in the first place,” he said.
Shamsher also said this is not a custody battle as the Kuala Lumpur High Court had already granted Loh full custody of the children.
Instead, he explained that Loh had been advised to file for a habeas corpus application to recover her children. The application will be heard at the Kuala Lumpur High Court tomorrow.
Shamsher said the habeas corpus application will not only allow the court to look into unlawful detention by enforcement agencies but also private individuals, especially when their liberties were at stake.
“This is not a custody battle. Three children have been taken away and police were almost not cooperating when the High Court ordered them to recover the children and deliver them to their mother (who has custody).
“Under the Criminal Procedure Code, the habeas corpus will allow for the children to be produced in court, and my client will be handed her children, in the event our application is allowed,” he said.
It also does not matter that there were claims that the children were unwilling to be with their mother, he added.
“If your child wants to live in your neighbour’s house and your neighbour said, ‘your kids don’t like you’, does that mean the kids now belong to the neighbours?
“The children are not old enough under the law to say where they want to live,” he added.
Allow Loh to be with her kids
Meanwhile, Penang mufti Wan Salim Mohd Noor said that Loh should be allowed to be with her kids.
However, he said the children’s conversion should not be reversed as it would be “impractical”, might “further complicate the situation” and that it would be for the good of all for them to remain as Muslims.
He had been responding to Indira Gandhi Action Team’s Arun Dorasamy who had reportedly called for the children’s conversion to be cancelled.
“Doing that would only muddy the good ties that the Hindus have with Muslims in the country.
“From an Islamic perspective, one’s faith in Islam cannot be reversed through a court decree, but only if that person voluntarily wants to leave Islam without any pressure from anyone,” Wan Salim was quoted as saying by FMT.
He added that Loh should be allowed to meet with her children as much as they like at “safe” venues and that Loh can have her children back home periodically, with police monitoring.
This is because, he said, Islam does not prevent family members of different faiths to live under one roof.
“In fact, they can even share meals together so long as the food is not considered to be haram,” he said.
Wan Salim also proposed for Loh’s children to be sent to boarding schools where their welfare and safety can be taken care of.
“I’m making this proposal, which is best for the children so that we can solve the mess we are in.
“This way, no parties are taken advantage of and, at the same time, protect the sensitivities of Muslims who believe that hidden hands are pushing to revoke the children’s conversion to Islam,” he said.
Loh had said her three children were abducted from her while she was recuperating from the injuries inflicted by her former spouse Nagahswaran Muniandy in 2019.
Nagahswaran, who is currently in jail on drug-related charges, unilaterally converted the three children to Islam without her knowledge and consent.
She had obtained full custody of her children in December last year and was briefly reunited with them on Feb 14 in Perlis.
The children were then placed under the care of the Welfare Department pending the habeas corpus application which will be heard in court tomorrow (Feb 21).
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