Hindu mum gains custody of children in latest conversion tussle
The Malay Mail Online – Mon, Apr 7, 2014RELATED CONTENT
- Deepa Subramaniam (left) and her lawyer Jayamalar Raman (right) outside the High …
SEREMBAN, April 7 — The High Court today granted a Hindu woman full custody of her two children currently at the centre of yet another case involving unilateral conversion of minors to Islam.
Delivering her judgment in chambers, Justice Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof ruled that mother, Deepa Subramaniam, 30, had full custodial rights over the children, aged six and nine, as her marriage to Viran Nagapan in 2004 was a civil union and did not come under Shariah law.
Zabariah also permitted Deepa’s application to divorce Viran — who now goes by his Muslim name Izwan Abdullah after his conversion in 2012.
It remains unclear if the High Court’s judgement overrules an earlier decision by the Shariah Court, which awarded custody of the children to Viran in April last year, as they had already been converted to Islam by the father.
Deepa, who filed for divorce and custody of the children in December last year, has been estranged with her husband since 2011.
It is understood that Viran, who currently works for an Islamic NGO called Kasih Sayang, had converted both their children in April last year without informing Deepa.
Viran, when met by journalists outside the courtroom after the decision was read, was livid and accused the court of being unreasonable in awarding custody of the two children to Deepa.
“What is the court saying? That it is better for me to drink ‘air haram’? The Islamic court makes much better sense than this,” he said in Malay, questioning the grounds that the court used to arrive at its judgement.
Viran’s counsel Muhammad Faiz Fadzil confirmed Justice Zabariah’s judgement.
The lawyer said the decision was based the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, which meant that the marriage and custody would be based under the jurisdiction of the civil law rather than on Shariah law.
Muhammad Faiz said his client would file an appeal within the next 30 days.
Both Deepa and her counsel, Jayamalar Raman, declined to speak to the press, as it is understood that the judge had “restricted” them from making any media statements.
Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), which helped Deepa take the case to court, welcomed the High Court’s decision.
“We applaud the judge for coming to this decision, but we have not decided on what the next step will be regarding the conversion of the children... we will have to discuss that further,” said the group’s advocacy officer Sally Wangsawijaya.
Malaysian courts have had to repeatedly deal with disputes over the conversion of minors to Islam without the consent of one parent. The outcomes have been varied.
Last year, the Ipoh High Court last year ruled in favour of one M Indira Gandhi that the conversion of her three children by her ex-husband was null and void as it was done without her knowledge and that the father, Ridzuan Abdullah, hadn’t followed procedures when converting his children.
But in 2006, the courts threw out an application by R Subashini to prohibit her estranged husband, T Saravanan, from converting their youngest child, ruling that the civil courts did not have jurisdiction over matters related to Islamic jurisprudence.
There was also much confusion surrounding the High Court’s 2004 decision to award Shamala Sathiyaseelan custody of her two children, but also cautioned her against “influencing” them with her religious practices as they had already been converted to Islam by their father.
Shamala has since left the country, along with her two children, and is believed to be living in Australia.
