Straits Times
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, July 21, 2004: A Hindu woman has been granted day-to-day custody of her two sons who had been converted to Islam by their father after he embraced the religion. The father, Dr. Jeyaganesh C. Mogarajah, 36, was given joint legal custody and visitation rights, but the High Court ruled that his estranged wife Shamala Sathiyaseelan, 32, would be responsible for the daily care of the boys. Four-year-old Saktiswaran and Theiviswaran, 3, are currently staying with their mother in Alor Star.
The case has attracted attention, especially from women’s groups which were concerned that civil courts may not adequately address the rights of women in conversion cases. In his oral judgment, Judge Faiza Tamby Chik said joint legal custody meant both parents would have to agree on issues concerning the children, such as education, choice of religion and property.
Datuk Faiza hoped that by giving actual custody to the mother and legal custody to both parents, they would be able to “retain some influence on the children and neither would feel totally excluded.” But he placed a caveat on Madam Shamala that her right to actual custody would cease if there were reasonable grounds to believe she would influence the children’s present religious beliefs. “This daily care (of the children) cannot be shared,” he said, adding that it was good for the children to be with their mother until they turned 18.
Dr. Jeyaganesh, now Muhammad Ridzwan Mogarajah, got visitation rights and will be able to see the children in Alor Star every fortnight, but cannot take them away from Alor Star. Madam Shamala, a bank clerk, had applied to the High Court for custody of her children, who were converted to Islam by her husband without her knowledge and consent in 2002. The two were married in 1998 according to Hindu rites, but four years later the husband converted to Islam. Madam Shamala’s application to the High Court to nullify the conversion of her sons to Islam was rejected on the grounds that the court did not have jurisdiction.