Thursday, May 11, 2023

High Court rules Hindu mum Loh Siew Hong's three kids' unilateral conversion to Islam 'lawful'


MM:

High Court rules Hindu mum Loh Siew Hong's three kids' unilateral conversion to Islam 'lawful'





Loh Siew Hong (centre) and her lawyers are seen leaving the Kuala Lumpur High Court June 15, 2022. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

Thursday, 11 May 2023 4:51 PM MYT



KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — Hindu mother Loh Siew Hong has today failed to challenge her three children’s unilateral conversion to Islam after the High Court declared their conversion by her ex-husband to be lawful, despite done without her consent


In delivering the judgment, High Court judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh said the welfare of the children must take precedence as was raised in the Federal Court’s 2018 decision in M. Indira Gandhi’s case.

In his findings, the learned judge said there was no evidence before the court that neither the three children have reverted to the Hindu religion nor stopped professing the religion of Islam under their mother’s custody.


“Having regard to all the circumstances of the case, there is no evidence before me that the three children are not happy staying with the applicant.


“Therefore, the welfare of the children, within the meaning of Indira Gandhi, dictates that the status quo should remain,” he said.

In Loh’s case, she is contesting her ex-husband’s move to change their three underaged children’s religion from Hinduism to Islam without her knowledge and consent in 2019.

MORE TO COME

1 comment:

  1. This judgement seems a departure from the Indira Gandhi's children case.

    I thought the key point is the children were "underaged" at the time the children were unilaterally converted by the father.

    So, how can the unilateral conversion stand?

    ReplyDelete