Minister: Cops should act in Deepa's case

The police should take the necessary action to return S Deepa's son as she has rightful custody of the child, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri.

Nancy, who is the de facto law minister, said this in reference to Deepa's Muslim convert ex-husband Izwan Abdullah, who forcibly took away their son after the Seremban High Court ruled in the mother's favour.

"To me, based on my reading, the police should take the kid away from the father and return (the child) to the mother.

"I think the court has been very fair in its decision," she told reporters in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

However, Nancy (right) said this is based on her understanding of the situation based on press reports and the police may have their own reasons not for acting.

“From my reading, the boy was taken with no legal consent from the mother who has custody of the child, therefore the police should act.

“But perhaps - I don’t know - the police may not have much info on it. That’s why I also need to be fair to the police,” she said.

In April, the Seremban High Court awarded custody of their six-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter to Deepa after Izwan, whose original name was N Viran, converted them to Islam without the mother’s knowledge.

However, prior to this, Izwan had obtained a Syariah Court order granting him custody of the two children.

‘Cops refusing to act’

Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar has insisted that police cannot act, claiming there were contradicting orders by the Syariah and civil courts.

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had also thrown his weight behind the police, supporting its stance

Since then, another similar case involving the six-year-old daughter of M Indira Gandhi and Muslim convert ex-husband Muhammad Ridhuan Abdullah was heard in the Ipoh High Court last Friday.

In this case, the judge specifically ruled the civil High Court was superior to the Syariah Court.

The judge also found Muhammad Ridhuan guilty of contempt for not returning the daughter to Indira and said police must issue a warrant of arrest against him if he still refuses to comply.

In the latest case, the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) gate-crashed a Hindu wedding and took the bride away on suspicion she is a Muslim.

The bride, Zarina Abdullah Majid, had said she was converted to Islam as a child by her Muslim convert father without the family’s knowledge.

However, Zarina insists she has been a practising Hindu all her life and has not had any contact with her father, who abandoned the family 20 years ago.

Zarina said she had attempted to reverse the conversion for seven years but to no avail, thus finally deciding to marry a Hindu man regardless of her status.

Nancy declined to comment on Zarina’s case, stating that it was a state matter for the Selangor government to handle.