A court has ruled that a man who converted to Islam and then took two Muslim wives must financially support the Hindu ex-wife he left behind.

Abdul Ghani Abdullah and then-wife A. Letchimidevi split in 1996 after he converted to Islam. He then stopped monthly alimony payments of RM1,000 when she refused also to convert, the New Straits Times said.

But Court of Appeal judges ruled on Tuesday that Abdul Ghani, a mutton seller, would have to resume payments and rejected his request for them to be reduced to 300 ringgit.

Abdul Ghani's lawyer had argued his client could not afford RM1,000 because he had to support two other Muslim women he married in 1997 and 2000, the state Bernama news agency reported.

Muslim men are allowed up to four wives, but women's groups and activists say polygamy is cruel and has deviated from its original purpose of protecting widows and orphans.