Why Aren't The Cops Investigating A Man Who Snatched A Boy Away From His Mother?

Izwan, 31, had converted the children to Islam in April 2013, without the mother's consent.

Deepa, 30, who filed for divorce and custody of the children in December last year, has been estranged from her husband since 2011.

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On Monday (7 April 2014), the Seremban High Court granted S. Deepa, 30, full custody of her two children ― a nine-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son ― as her marriage to Izwan, 31, in 2004 was a civil union and did not come under shariah law.

The High Court decision overrides a Syariah Court order early last year that granted custody of the children to N Viran @ Izwan Abdullah, who became a Muslim in April last year. Justice Zabariah ruled in favour of the mother under Section 51 of the Law Reform Act, as Deepa and Viran's marriage in 2004 had been solemnised based on civil law.

However, the children remain Muslim converts and Deepa must pursue a separate case to revoke their conversion.

Barely 48 hours (9 April 2014) after the High Court here awarded custody of both children to Deepa last Monday, Izwan snatched the boy from her house in Rumah Rakyat Sg Rotan in Jele­bu. Deepa has since left her home and gone into hiding, fearing that her ex-husband would also take away their daughter.

According to Deepa, her former husband, Izwan Abdullah, 30, came to her house in Jelebu around 9am and called out their son's name. When the boy appeared, she said, Izwan, who works with an Islamic NGO, grabbed their son and immediately ran to the car, with another person at the wheel.

"I held on to his leg as the car was moving but he kicked me and I fell on the road. "I have injuries on my head, legs, ankles and elbows," said S Deepa when recounting this morning's ordeal. The 30-year-old clerk later filed a report with the Seremban district police headquarters.

Izwan Abdullah, a Muslim-convert accused of breaching a custody order by abducting his son from his ex-wife, said he did so to ensure his son remains a Muslim.

Izwan said he had initially instructed his lawyers to appeal the decision by the High Court to give custody of their children to Deepa last Monday but was aghast when he read the newspapers the next day quoting his wife as saying that she would challenge their children’s conversion to Islam in court.

“I was most upset. This I can neither allow nor accept. When the High Court awarded her custody, she was supposed to provide for them and not challenge their conversion to Islam,” he told The Star.

Izwan, or N.Viran as he was known before his conversion, said he had nothing against his ex-wife but felt she was not fit to raise their children. “I am prepared to compromise. She can see the children every day but they must stay with me. “If they are taken away, I am sure she would turn them against Islam,” he said, adding that he had been looking after their son since being awarded custody by the Syariah court last August.

“As a Muslim, I must be patient and leave this to Allah’s will. When the time comes, I will tell all,” he said. He also dismissed clai­ms that his son was not safe with him. “My children are my flesh and blood. I have no reason to hurt them,” he said.

IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said that the police will not investigate Izwan, a Muslim convert, for abducting his son despite the civil High Court awarding custody of the child to Deepa, a Hindu. He argued that there was no case for abduction as the Shariah High Court had earlier awarded full custody of the two children to Izwan.

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“I would advise both the parties to talk this over and to settle the contradictory court orders. As far as we are concerned both court orders are binding on the police,” he said.

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Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zahid Hamidi today endorsed the police view that no action could be taken against Izwan Abdullah for taking away his six-year-old son, Mithran, from his Hindu ex-wife, S. Deepa, last Wednesday.

thesundaily.my

He said his ministry's stand was that of Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Bakar, who had said this was because both the Syariah Court and the High Court had jurisdiction in the issue of custody of Mithran and his sister, Sharmila, 9. "What was mentioned by the IGP is the official stand of the Home Ministry,' he told reporters today.

thesundaily.my

Earlier today, former law minister Nazri Aziz had also criticised the police for their response, saying it was a clear cut case of kidnapping.

freemalaysiatoday.com

He also said the Cabinet had decided in 2009 that the children be raised in the common religion at the time of marriage, should one of their parent convert to Islam. “This is not a question of Izwan being right under Syariah law.It is a civil law marriage, it is the civil court, we must respect the civil court’s ruling. They have the jurisdiction. The high court ruling was correct. The police should not allow him to get away with kidnapping the child,” he told English daily The Star.

freemalaysiatoday.com

Women rights activist, Maria Chin Abdullah took the police to task today for not taking action on the abduction of S Deepa’s son, saying it was a criminal act. “It is nothing short of kidnapping, especially after the Seremban High Court granted the right of custody to the wife.”

freemalaysiatoday.com

Maria, who heads a community empowerment NGO, Empower, said that action should be taken against Izwan for violating the high court order. She also said it was irresponsible of the police to say that they can’t act on the matter when they were supposed to protect public safety.

freemalaysiatoday.com

The Muslim group argued that Izwan technically did not abduct his son as the Shariah High Court has awarded him custodial rights. “To say abduction is a bit harsh... you have to remember that the Shariah Court did give Izwan custodial rights so to him, he is only upholding the court decision,” said Shamsul Azhar Yahya, one of the Muslim coalition’s representative.

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The Negri Sembilan government must intervene over an inter-religious custody battle that saw a Muslim convert abduct his son, Muslim groups said today when insisting Islamic matters fell within the state’s jurisdiction.

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Gabungan Pertubuhan Dakwah Negri Sembilan spokesperson Hanif Hassan, who is from the Malaysian Association of Shariah Lawyers, claimed that the state government could be the final arbiter in the matter as it was an Islamic issue. “If you look at the Federal Constitution religion falls under state jurisdiction. To solve this problem, the state government must take action by enacting a law that is more comprehensive,” he told a press conference here.

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Civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan said it was the norm for the police to refrain from acting when there are conflicting orders from Shariah and civil courts, but he stopped short of calling it a standard operating procedure. “It fuels the perception, rightly or wrongly, that Muslims get preference by the authorities. And it gives a bad image to the religion,” Syahredzan told The Malay Mail Online.

The police’s refusal to act against a Muslim convert for allegedly abducting his son despite a civil court granting the mother custody may encourage more such cases in the future, lawyers have said.

“At the end of the day, by saying they can’t do anything, are they giving a signal in future cases that people can take the law into their own hands and police will do nothing?” asked Bar Council’s Human Rights Committee co-chairman Andrew Khoo here. “If that’s the case, that’s a serious indictment in abrogation of duties and responsibility to protect citizens from harm, from use of force.”

Constitutional lawyer Edmund Bon pointed to a bigger issue within the police force itself, saying the officers have taken the matter into their own hands without seeking legal advice. “The IGP and police don’t quite understand law as they ought to … The IGP should have at least referred the matter to the Attorney-General for legal views and interpretation if he was unclear,” Bon claimed. According to Bon, the IGP should have enforced the High Court’s order as the Shariah court’s order was not applicable to a non-Muslim, in this case Deepa, who is a Hindu.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar should step down if he is unwilling to act on the alleged abduction of a boy by his Muslim-convert father in Seremban, senior DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said today.

malaysiandigest.com

“The failure and refusal of the Inspector-General of Police to uphold the law and to ignore the Seremban child abduction case is the height of irresponsibility for the top policeman in the country,” he said in a statement.

malaysiandigest.com

“The IGP should remember his sworn oath to uphold the law and the Constitution and should take immediate action to ensure that the ‘abducted’ son is immediately returned to her mother who has lawful custody under following their civil union,” Lim said.

malaysiandigest.com

In 2009, the Cabinet announced a prohibition against the unilateral conversion of children to Islam by either parent, to prevent further cases where custody battles are locked in a legal limbo that sits in the void between the civil and Syariah court systems.

themalaymailonline.com

Malaysia operates parallel legal systems with civil law that applies universally and Syariah law that is restricted to Muslims. In theory, the two systems are distinct and separate. In practice, however, the lines are often blurred, and more so in joint cases when some parties are Muslim and others are not.

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Deepa’s case is a clear instance of where the overlap occurs, and with no proper resolution. Which is the superior and which is the subordinate legal system?

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