Husband in unilateral conversion case fined RM20,000 for contempt

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has slapped a RM20,000 fine in default two weeks' jail on Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy, the former husband of Loh Siew Hong, for contempt of court.

High Court judge Justice Evrol Mariette Peters meted out the sentence after finding that Muhammad Nagahswaran, a Muslim convert, had interfered with the administration of justice.

The court also ordered Nagahswaran to pay RM6,000 in costs to Loh.

In her decision, Justice Peters said that the respondent's (Nagahswaran) conduct of refusing to comply with a court order had triggered a chain of events, resulting in the petitioner filing numerous court applications to be reunited with her children.

The respondent's conduct had shown that he tried to evade being served copies of the court order.

"He failed to comply with the court order whereby the petitioner (Loh) was granted sole guardianship of the children.

"The respondent went missing to evade being detected as he wished to evade the court order," Justice Peters added.

This has also deprived the children of their mother as they were passed around from one person to another, the judge said.

"There were also other applications that were filed during that period, which left the petitioner in a state of limbo regarding the rights she had pursuant to the court order.

She said based on affidavits, the respondent had even involved family members to prevent the children from being returned with the petitioner.

On Sept 20, 2022, the High Court allowed Loh's application to initiate committal proceedings against her ex-husband for taking the children without her permission and unilaterally converting them to Islam in 2019.

Loh said there was a court order that granted her sole custody over her children on March 31, 2019, which was violated by Nagahswaran.

On Feb 21, the three children who were under the care of the Social Welfare Department, were released to Loh after the High Court allowed the habeas corpus application that she had filed.

The children were born Hindus but were converted to Islam by the Perlis Islamic Religious Department (MAIPs) following the unilateral consent of their father.