KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia's police chief Abdul Hamid Bador has said that the cops are still "working hard" to trace the daughter of Ms M. Indira Gandhi, following a warning by her legal team that she would sue him for RM100 million (S$33.3 million) for non-action over an 11-year-old case involving her missing daughter.
"We have and are still working hard towards tracing the whereabouts of Indira Gandhi's daughter," Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Abdul Hamid was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper yesterday.
"I have given an assurance that I will not let the mother and daughter be apart," he added.
Prasana Diksa, then 11 months old, was snatched by Ms Indira's estranged husband in 2009.
Mr K. Pathmanathan had converted to Islam that same year, taking the name of Muhammad Ridhuan Abdullah. He then had Prasana and his two older children with Ms Indira converted as well.
But Malaysia's apex Federal Court in February 2018 nullified the unilateral conversion of Ms Indira's three children.
In the landmark ruling, the court said a child from a civil marriage can be converted to Islam only with the consent of both parents.
The case is closely watched in Malaysia as several similar cases have cropped up over the years, leading to increased race and religious tensions in custody battles.
Under Malaysia's dual-track legal system, parents who had converted to Islam had previously sought refuge with the Islamic court - a parallel system to the civil court - to gain advantage in custody disputes by having their children converted to Islam.
But following the 2018 judgment, then-police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the cops would abide by the court order and track down the fugitive Ridhuan and Prasana.
The other two children, who are with Ms Indira, have said they are Hindus.
Although the police set up a special task force to find Ridhuan and Prasana, there has been no recent word on the progress of the investigation.
Mr Arun Dorasamy, chairman of the Indira Gandhi Action Team, claimed that the police have not updated the group on its investigations since a meeting in April last year, The Star reported.
Mr Arun said the team plans to file a RM100 million civil suit against the IGP, the special task force, the police and Malaysian government next month for failing to reunite Prasana with her mother.
Asked about the threat of legal action, Mr Abdul Hamid said he would see what form of action Ms Indira's side intends to take. "We will evaluate their action first before responding further."
