KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — Pengerang MP Datuk Seri Azalina Othman defended Loh Siew Hong today, saying the Hindu single mother and her three children must be protected by the country’s laws.
The former de facto law minister posted on Twitter that the Federal Constitution remains the supreme law in Malaysia, and urged the public to respect the High Court’s decision of awarding her the custody of the children, who had been unilaterally converted.
“Loh and her children have the absolute right to be protected under the laws of Malaysia. The rule of law is important, no authority is above the law.
“The Federal Constitution is the supreme law of our country, and interpretations by the Federal Court forms part of the Constitution. If we continue to ignore the rule of law, disruptions will ensue,” she wrote.
Azalina also mentioned a report from The Star quoting the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) that welcomed the High Court's decision in allowing the habeas corpus application by a mother who has been separated from her three children since 2019.
Suhakam’s commissioner for child affairs Prof Datuk Noor Aziah Mohd Awal said the court had further ordered that the three children who are now under the care of the Social Welfare Department be released to the sole custody, care, and control of the mother.
Yesterday, Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that Loh’s sole custody of her children which were granted twice in 2019 and 2021 were still valid and enforceable.
Loh’s children were taken away from her in 2019 while she was hospitalised with injuries she claimed were inflicted by her former husband, Nagashwaran Muniandy, who has since converted to Islam and then secretly converted the couple’s children and they were taken away to Perlis.
In December 2019, she obtained interim custody of her children pending her divorce, but her court case was delayed when the country went into Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020; she finally obtained an order granting her full and sole custody in March 2021.
The mother was unable to gain control of her children although the court in December 2019 and March 2021, had given the mother full custody.
Perlis mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has however said he will look for legal avenues to ensure that the children’s unilateral conversion into Islam will not be nullified.
Along with him, Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Ahmad Marzuk Shaary have insisted that the unilateral conversion is legal and valid despite a previous Federal Court decision saying the Constitution requires both parents to consent to a conversion.
