Court orders immediate release of 3 children from welfare department to mother

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today ordered the immediate release of three children from the care of the Social Welfare Department (JKM) to their mother, Loh Siew Hong, after allowing the habeas corpus application filed by the single parent.

Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah said pursuant to an order by the High Court dated March 31, 2021, the applicant was granted sole custody, care and control of the three children.

“There was also an earlier interim ex-parte order dated Dec 20 2019, granting sole custody, care and control of her children to the applicant.

“The court orders still stand and are still valid. The court orders are not to be treated with impunity in the face of contempt of court. By reason that the court orders still stand, I therefore allow the application of writ of habeas corpus,” the judge said.

In her notice of motion, filed through Messrs SS Thind on Feb 13, Loh named Nazirah Nanthakumari Abdullah as the first respondent and an unnamed party that she claimed had her three children as the second respondent.

Loh had sought a writ of habeas corpus or other appropriate orders by the court to compel the children’s immediate release from the private custody of the respondents, and for the children to be returned to her.

Loh, 34, was seen in tears when the judge delivered the judgment.

The three children – twin girls aged 14 and a 10-year-old boy – were seated in the witness room during the hearing.

Loh filed the habeas corpus application on grounds that although the High Court had granted custody, care and sole control of the three children to her, she had had not been able to see her children because her ex-husband, M Nagahswaran, was hiding them.

Loh claimed she had found out later that her children were in the control of the first respondent (Nazirah, believed to be a Muslim preacher) at the Hidayah Centre Foundation in Bayan Lepas, Penang, but she was not allowed to meet and pick up her children.

She claimed that her children were then transferred to Perlis and placed under the control of the two respondents.

“The actions of the respondents to keep the children without the applicant’s consent constitutes illegal detention or inappropriate detention in private care and this warrants the court’s intervention as the applicant did not know the specific location of her children.

“The applicant had reason to believe that there were intentions and attempts by the respondents to convert her children to Islam and to take them outside of this court’s jurisdiction,” Loh said in her application document.

Earlier, lawyer A Srimurugan who represented Loh said in his submissions that the three siblings should have been returned to their biological mother as she had gained custody, protection and control over them. He said the respondents’ actions in controlling them were considered very disrespectful of the order issued by the High Court.

“The question raised today did not involve religious issues or conflicts involving shariah law. Instead, it was related to compliance with previous court orders,” he said, adding that Loh’s ex-husband was detained at a prison in Kelantan.

Meanwhile, lawyer Aidil Khalid, who represented Nazirah, submitted that the issue of unilateral conversion was clearly not relevant.

“My client should not even be named as a party in the habeas corpus application because the three children are no longer under her care,” he said.

The children were placed at the welfare institution at Loh’s request after obtaining a court order in the interests and welfare of the children.