KUALA LUMPUR: Former deputy prime minister Tun Ghafar Baba has filed a divorce petition against his second wife Heryati Abdul Rahim.
It was submitted to the Syariah Court Registry through his counsel's firm, Messrs Radzuan Ibrahim & Co at 10.30am here yesterday.
The Syariah Court would fix a hearing date for the petition filed under Section 55A of the Family Law Act (Wilayah Persekutuan).
Ghafar had pronounced the talak satu at 11.45am on Friday. However, no details were available as to where he made the divorce declaration.
Heryati, 41, recently admitted in the Syariah High Court to committing khalwat (close proximity) with three Bosnian students.
In a recent interview, she alleged that “a close relative” had tipped off religious officers to sabotage her marriage to the veteran politician.
She said she pleaded guilty because she did not want to prolong the case and denied she had committed any immoral act, saying the case was “technical” in nature.
On Thursday, Heryati filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus at the High Court, seeking the release of her six-year-old daughter Kartika, whom she claimed was being “illegally detained” by Ghafar's eldest son, Tamrin.
She accused Tamrin of taking her daughter away after a scuffle between them at her Taman Duta house last Sunday.
The application is scheduled for hearing before Justice S. Augustine Paul tomorrow.
Police denied claims that Kartika had been “kidnapped” by Tamrin, saying she was with Ghafar in a safe place.
