THE shariah court’s discrimination against women must end now, said Maria Chin Abdullah, urging the government to set up a system to protect their rights.

The Petaling Jaya MP said many divorced Muslim women are “defenceless” in the shariah court, especially when it comes to getting their ex-husbands to provide maintenance payments.

“Why don’t the shariah court and Welfare Department go after fathers who do not pay child support or maintenance? This form of discrimination and injustice must stop.

“I recommend that the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and the Religious Affairs Department take up this matter immediately and work with the shariah court on establishing a non-discriminatory system to protect the rights of the disadvantaged.

“We cannot allow this discrimination to continue any longer,” she said in a statement today.

Maria was referring to the Kuala Lumpur shariah court’s decision to sentence Emilia Hanafi, the ex-wife of Naza World Group executive chairman S.M. Faisal S.M. Nasimuddin, to seven days’ jail for contempt of court, for rescheduling her ex-husband’s visitation.

The court, however, allowed a stay of proceedings, pending Emilia’s appeal. The judge also imposed a RM5,000 bail on her.

The contempt proceedings were initiated by S.M. Faisal after Emilia changed the schedule for his visits to their children on three occasions last year.

Maria described the ruling as a grave injustice and total disgrace to the judicial system.

The first-time lawmaker said Emilia had sought permission to reschedule the October 6 and 7, 2018 visitation dates so that she could take her three sons to a religious charity event.

S.M. Faisal was absent on the replacement dates October 13 and 14 the same year, and did not provide a reason for it, she added.

“Emilia, who divorced in 2016, is a victim of domestic abuse. She struggled with the trauma of being in an abusive relationship that was widely covered by the media at the time.

“For the first two years after her divorce, she struggled to support her three children as she did not receive any child support from her ex-husband. She had to go through a lot to ensure they had a roof over their heads.

“The Welfare Department recently knocked on the doors of Emilia’s family members’ homes in search of her three kids. This is absolutely astounding.

“It has been four years since the case was first brought to court, and Emilia has been granted full custody of her children. Why is she still being harassed?” – September 5, 2019.