Malaysia police say still working to find missing child in closely watched custody battle

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's police chief Abdul Hamid Bador said 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 told reporters on Tuesday (Jan 28), as quoted by The Star newspaper.

"I have given an assurance that I will not let the mother and daughter be apart," he added.

Ms Indira's daughter, Prasana Diksa, then 11 months old, was snatched by Ms Indira's estranged husband in 2009.

Mr K. Pathmanathan converted to Islam that same year, taking the name of Muhammad Ridhuan Abdullah, and converted Prasana and their other two older children too.

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 had cropped up over the years, spiking race and religious tensions in custody battles.

Under Malaysia's dual-track legal system, the parent who had converted to Islam had previously sought refuge with the Islamic court - a parallel system to the civil court - to gain advantage over custody by having converted the children 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 fugitive Riduan and Prasana.

The other two children are with Ms Indira and had said they are Hindus.

The police had set up a special task force, but there has been no recent word on the progress of investigations.

Chairman of the Indira Gandhi Action Team Arun Dorasamy claimed that 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, police and Malaysian government next month for failing to reunite Prasana with her mother.

Asked on the threat of legal action, Mr Abdul Hamid said he would see what form of action that her side intends to take.

"We will evaluate their action first before responding further," he said.