'Non-Muslim marriage does not dissolve when one party converts'

S. Deepa was given custody of her daughter but not her son. Nabil Abdullah's custody was given to the boy's father, Muslim convert Izwan Abdullah.

PETALING JAYA: The Federal Court has held that a non-Muslim marriage does not dissolve automatically when one of the parties converts to Islam.

In a written judgment issued on Monday, Court of Appeal president Justice Md Raus Sharif, who chaired the five-man panel which heard the custody battle between Muslim convert Izwan Abdullah and his Hindu ex-wife S. Deepa (pic) said that the civil courts continue to have jurisdiction over divorce and custody proceedings despite the conversion of a spouse to Islam.