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DAP slams top cop for not taking action against Muslim convert who defied custody order

Peraturan penukaran agama perlu diperketat elak salah guna, kata peguam syariah

The Inspector-General of Police should do his job which is to punish crime and uphold the law, and not play politics, the DAP said today, referring to the top cop’s inaction against a Muslim convert who recently took his son away from his ex-wife’s house, despite a High Court order granting her custody.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the abduction of the boy from his mother S. Deepa, who had custody, was a sad family affair that has become a national controversy because Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had refused to uphold the law.

"The IGP's statutory duty under the Police Act is to punish crime and uphold the law. Not play politics according to his personal whim and fancy.

"Otherwise he is not fit to hold the post of IGP, but definitely fit to enter politics and contest in the general elections," Lim said in a statement today.

Khalid had said that police's hands were tied because the man, Izwan Abdullah, 31, had obtained a custody order from the Shariah Court last year.

“As there are two clashing court orders on the matter, we will wait for the courts to decide,” he said during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Khalid also said that the child was not in any danger as he was with his father.

Lim, however, added that even two former law ministers from the ruling government, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, had taken the police to task for not taking action against Izwan.

"Both had stated that this was a clear-cut case of kidnapping. Even a custody order does not empower a person to use violence to get back one's child.

"Should the parent not obey the custodial order to surrender the child, then the parent can be cited for contempt and ne punished by the courts accordingly. Courts never permit a parent to use violence or break the law as suffered by Deepa.

"Clearly the IGP has chosen to play politics and defied both the High Court's civil laws and Cabinet," he said.

The Shariah Court last year awarded Izwan, previously known as N. Viran, the custody of his six-year-old son as well as nine-year-old daughter.

On Monday, the Seremban High Court awarded custody of both children to Izwan’s ex-wife S. Deepa, 31, after deciding that the law that had jurisdiction over matters pertaining to a civil marriage was the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act.

The court also granted an application by Deepa to annul their marriage because Izwan, who is now working with Yayasan Kasih Sayang, had embraced Islam.

However, two days later, Izwan had gone to Deepa's house in Jelebu, where he had apparently shoved her and took their son away.

Following the incident, Deepa lodged a report at the Seremban police station. Deepa has since left her home and gone into hiding as she is afraid Izwan will also take her daughter away.

Izwan said that he took their son away to protect the boy.

In December last year, Deepa filed an application to obtain custody of the children and to quash the custody order by the Shariah Court.

Deepa said her husband had left her and her children three years ago and never supported them financially.

She found out that their children – Sharmila (Nurul Nabila), 9, and Mithran (Nabil), 6 – had been converted to Islam without her knowledge by her husband in April last year.

She also lodged a police report as the conversion of the children was against the law.

Lim said the Cabinet decided in 2009 that children should be raised in the common religion at the time of marriage, should one of their parents convert to a different religion.

The Cabinet's decision, which was announced by Nazri, also states that a spouse who has converted to Islam also has to fulfil his or her marriage responsibilities and resolve issues according to civil marriage laws. Religion should not be used as a tool to escape marriage responsibilities.

Lim said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak must affirm the Cabinet's decision in 2009 and instruct the IGP to act.

"Or else, (he has to) admit that his 1Malaysia slogan is dead and buried.

"There is also no point for Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties like MCA, Gerakan and MIC to play a double-faced charade of criticising the IGP when they are still part and parcel of the government they support that allows such travesty of justice," he added.

Family lawyers advised Deepa, who works as a clerk, to file contempt proceedings against her former husband.

They said Deepa, 30, could also file for a recovery order under the Child Act 2001 to get back her son.

Lawyer Aston Philip Paiva said Deepa could also rely on the Child Act when one parent unlawfully abducts a child from the legal custody of the other spouse.

"Once a recovery order is obtained, the police can get back the child and hand it over to lawful custody of the rightful parent," he said.

Meanwhile, DAP national vice-chairperson and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok said Deepa’s case called for urgent action from the government to amend the laws to enforce the Cabinet’s decision against unilateral conversion.

"Izwan committed clear cut abduction and the police have no reason whatsoever not to act.

"The existence of two court orders cannot be an excuse for police inaction.

"I want to ask the IGP if he was not aware of the Cabinet’s decision against unilateral conversion, announced by the former de factor law minister Datuk Seri Nazi Aziz in 2009," said Kok.

"Nazri made it very clear that any individual who wanted to convert religion must resolve all problems before converting. Izwan had obviously gone against this. How could the IGP 'condone' his kidnapping action after he had unilaterally converted his children?" Kok said in a statement.

She said although the government has not amended the laws, the Cabinet has made a policy decision which is clear enough and is an added reason for the police to swiftly act.

"The IGP must not see the issue in a different and wrong context. He should therefore not delay any further and must do his duty as the nation’s top police officer," Kok said. – April 13, 2014.