Mother reunites with her three children after alleged unilateral conversion
Single mother Loh Siew Hong has reportedly been reunited with her three children yesterday, after seeking police assistance on Saturday for their return.
According to the report by Malay Mail, the reunion of the chef from Genting Highlands and her three children took place at the Kangar district police headquarters in Perlis.
However, the children will be under the care of the Perlis Welfare Department until Feb 21, pending the outcome of a habeas corpus application filed in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
“I have not seen them for three years and they were reluctant to follow me initially. They were worried that their father might harm himself in prison if they were to follow me home,” the 34-year-old was quoted as saying.
Loh had a court order issued in March 2021, giving her sole custody of the three children.
Subsequently, her husband Nagahswaran Muniandy abducted the three children in her absence to be converted and placed in an Islamic centre in Perlis. Muniandy is currently in prison for a drug-related offence.
After seeing her children at the police station, Loh reportedly said she wanted to take them home but eventually decided to leave them under the Welfare Department’s care for the time being.
“I didn’t want to further traumatise them, but when I talked to them alone again, they were already crying and saying they are willing to go home with me,” she said.
According to the police report lodged on Saturday, Loh said she had been separated from her husband since March 2019 and was subsequently estranged from her children - a pair of 14-year-old twins and a 10-year-old.
After the couple's divorce, Loh said the High Court in Kuala Lumpur had last year granted her sole custody to the three children and she spent nine months in a futile search before turning to the police at Bukit Aman.
She later learned that her children were with an NGO for Muslim converts. After initially refusing to allow Loh to see her children, the woman at the NGO reportedly contacted Loh after she lodged her police report and told Loh to meet her and the children in Perlis.
According to the Malay Mail report, Bagan Dalam assemblyperson Satees Muniandy and Tamilar Kural Malaysia president David Marshel - who had assisted Loh with the police report - were also present at the Kangar police district headquarters with Loh.
Satees said officials from Perlis Welfare Department and Perlis Religious Department were present as well, and the Religious Department official showed documents purporting that the children had been converted to Islam.
Previously, it was reported that Loh and the children are Hindus.
“The conversion documents were prepared and witnessed by the woman who had been hiding the children from their mother and refused to let her talk to them,” Satees was quoted as saying.
He said during the meeting yesterday morning, both the police and the Perlis Welfare Department said Loh should have the children because she has sole custodial rights to the children.
After about an hour of discussions, it was decided that the children will be placed under the Perlis Welfare Department’s care as a neutral party, pending the habeas corpus application.
Only the mother can have access to the children and not third parties, including the Perlis Religious Department, Satees said.
He also reportedly praised the Perlis police for handling the matter professionally by taking custody of the children and handing them over to the department pending the application from Loh.
