POLICE have no more excuses but to locate Prasana Diksa, M. Indira Gandhi said of her youngest daughter after the Federal Court today nullified the unilateral conversion of her three children to Islam.

“The inspector-general of police has no more excuses. There is the court ruling now. So, he (the IGP) can’t say that he can’t do anything. He has to act now,” she said outside the court today.

Her lawyer, M. Kulasegaran, also said police must now look for Indira’s ex-husband, the former K. Padmanathan who is  now known as Muhammad Riduan Abdullah after his conversion to Islam, in order to find Prasana Diksa.

“This is the order of the High Court. Any delay (returning the child) is unacceptable,” he said. 

Prasana Diksa, now 9 years old, was converted by Riduan when she was 11 months in 2009. She has been with her father since March 2009, when he took her away and left Indira Gandhi.

Matters got complicated when the Shariah Court granted custody of the three children to Riduan but the civil High Court put them under Indira Gandhi’s care.

Police did not act on an order by the Ipoh High Court in 2014 for Riduan to return Prasana and for police to track him down. In September that year, the attorney-general, on behalf of the police, filed an appeal against the Ipoh High Court’s mandamus order for police to track Riduan down.

In 2016, the Federal Court ordered the IGP to arrest Riduan for contempt of court. 

The IGP then was Khalid Abu Bakar, who said police would obey the court order. Khalid has since retired, and Riduan’s whereabouts are still unknown.  

Indira Gandhi let out an audible sigh of relief in the courtroom when the judgment was read today. The court was packed to the brim with lawyers, media and family members and friends

She held back tears during a press conference later, expressing happiness that her nine-year battle in the courts was finally over.

“I’m grateful to all the lawyers who stood by me. 

“We have gone through so much. Thanks to the judges and all the people who are supportive of me. 

“But, my daughter is still missing. I want to see her. I really need to hold her. It has been nine years. When is she going to come back?” she said.

“There are so many things I want to share with her,” she added.

“We have won this case and she is not here… that is the saddest part. Especially this moment that I have been fighting for.”

The two older children were aged 12 and 11 at the time of their conversion by Riduan. Now 20 and 19, they have been with Indira Gandhi all the while in keeping with the civil High Court’s decision to grant her custody.

The 42-year-old kindergarten teacher had appealed against the Court of Appeal 2-1 majority decision on December 30, 2015, to reinstate the children’s conversion certificates, which had earlier been nullified by the Ipoh High Court.

The appellate court had ruled that the civil high court did not have jurisdiction to decide on the validity of the children’s conversion, which it said came under the exclusive jurisdiction of the shariah court. – January 29, 2018.