Hindu mum applies to Malaysia court to reverse children's unilateral conversion
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This comes after single mother Loh Siew Hong's ex-husband registered their three children as Muslim converts without her consent.
PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian Hindu woman is applying to the High Court to reverse the conversion of her three children to Islam without her knowledge, by the Perlis state religious authority.
The three children were converted to Islam after getting her ex-husband's permission, Bernama news agency reported on Tuesday (March 29).
Single mother Loh Siew Hong, a Hindu, is set to challenge her ex-husband's action in registering their three children as Muslim converts without her consent.
Her former husband, M. Nagahswaran, had converted to Islam, and later gave permission for the Perlis Islamic authorities to convert the three children.
The children are twin girls aged 14 today and a 10-year-old boy.
Such conversions into Islam by estranged non-Muslim couples in Malaysia who are battling over child custody, are a sensitive issue in the country, with several cases attracting big headlines over the last decade.
While the Federal court, Malaysia's apex court, has blocked the conversions of minors into another religion without consent by both parents, the state Islamic laws - in this case in the northern state of Perlis - are administered independently from the federal court system in Malaysia.
Adding to the complexity in such cases, Malaysia has a dual-track justice system: the secular courts are based on British law, and then there are the Syariah or Islamic courts. Both court systems have separate, but equal status in handling such cases.
The Malaysian High Court has set May 17 to hear an application for leave for judicial review, Bernama said.
Loh, 34, filed the application on March 25, and named the Perlis State Registrar of Converts, Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council, Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin and the Perlis state government as the first to the fourth respondent.
Perlis state Mufti Mohd Asri said on Feb 16 said in a video posted on his Facebook account that the three children were converted to Islam in July 2020 by their father before he was imprisoned on drug charges, Malay Mail online news reported on Feb 18.
Ms Loh is seeking a declaration that her three children are Hindus and her ex-husband did not have the legal capacity to allow the Perlis State Registrar of Converts to register their children as converts without her consent, Bernama reported.
Ms Loh's lawyer, A. Srimurugan, when contacted by reporters, said the application would be heard via online proceeding before Judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, the report said.
Ms Loh's children were taken away from her in 2019 while she was hospitalised with injuries she claimed were inflicted by her former husband.
The three children, who were under the care of the Social Welfare Department, were released to Ms Loh on Feb 21 after the High Court allowed her habeas corpus application.
