Summary

  • A 32-year-old mother is urging the police to take action against her estranged husband for taking away their four-year-old daughter to Dubai.

  • She claims her husband violated court orders by refusing to return the child.

A heartbroken mother urged the police to request an Interpol Red Notice to find and arrest her estranged husband, who allegedly took away their daughter in 2023 and relocated to Dubai.

This comes after her husband failed to comply with a High Court order to return the four-year-old to her. The deadline to do so was 4pm today.

According to the 32-year-old mother, the Shah Alam High Court granted her ad-interim custody of her daughter in July 2023, pending divorce proceedings.

The 38-year-old father was allowed supervised visits every alternate Sunday at a designated location in Penang.

Less than two months later, during a visit, the father drove the daughter away.

That was the last time the mother, who works as an auditor, had seen her daughter.

Malaysiakini is withholding the names of the parties involved to protect the child’s identity, as required under Section 15 of the Child Act 2001.

“The court then issued a ruling on Oct 23, 2023, for (my husband) to return (my daughter) to me. However, instead of doing this, he left Malaysia with (my daughter).

“I learned that he took (my daughter) to Singapore on Nov 5, 2023, before leaving for India two days later,” she told Malaysiakini.

The court had since made a ruling to award the mother full custody of her daughter.

In March this year, the mother learned that her husband had taken the daughter to Dubai, and she flew there to find them.

She said she found her husband at his workplace and confronted him.

“However, he declined to even let me see my daughter,” she claimed.

Alleged inaction by authorities

The mother said she lodged reports with the UAE authorities and Interpol, but was informed they could only act if there was an official request from Malaysia’s police.

She said she lodged multiple police reports in Malaysia, but the authorities allegedly did not take any action.

According to a news report, Shah Alam High Court judge Julie Lack last week issued another order for the father to return the daughter to her mother.

She gave the man seven days to comply; failing which, a committal warrant would be activated.

Since the father failed to comply with the order, the mother urged the authorities to do the necessary to ensure justice is served in her case.

“I have lodged multiple police reports, and my lawyer has sent multiple letters to the police, yet no response.

“It’s been over 20 months since (my daughter) was taken, and despite court orders and an active arrest warrant, there has been no decisive action to bring her home.

“This raises a pressing question: What are the police doing?” she asked.

Responding to Malaysiakini on the court order, the father said he wishes to escalate the case to higher courts.

“At the end, the child’s wish is paramount and I have strong reason to believe more senior judiciary personnel need to revisit the orders from the lower court,” he said.

He added that any custody award by the courts, before the divorce is finalised, should be deemed interim.

The father also refuted the allegation that he declined to let his wife see their daughter when she came to Dubai recently.

87 kids abducted by estranged spouses last year - report

87 kids abducted by estranged spouses last year - report