Single mother opposes state govt's review bid in her children's unilateral conversion case

PUTRAJAYA - Single mother Loh Siew Hong has filed an affidavit opposing the Perlis government’s application for a review of the Federal Court’s previous ruling regarding the Muslim religious status of her three children.

Loh’s lawyer A. Srimurugan, confirmed to Bernama, that the affidavit was filed today.

On Oct 30, the Perlis government filed the review application with the Federal Court, requesting the top court to set aside its previous decision which denied the leave to appeal applications filed by the state government and three other parties.

The state government stated that the prior Federal Court panel's decision had severely compromised their right to be heard and that they are seeking a rehearing of the leave to appeal application.

The leave application was dismissed on May 14, preventing the applicants, including Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIPs), the Perlis State Registrar of Converts, Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin from proceeding with their appeals in the Federal Court to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision.

The Court of Appeal had, on Jan 10, nullified Loh children’s conversion to Islam and declared them as Hindus.

In 2023, the High Court dismissed Loh’s judicial review application to annul her children’s conversion to Islam.

The 37-year-old single mother filed the application on March 25, 2022, seeking a declaration that her three children are Hindus and asserting that her ex-husband, M. Nagahswaran, who converted to Islam, lacked the legal capacity to register their children as converts without her consent.

The three children, who were initially placed under the care of the Social Welfare Department, were returned to Loh on Feb 21, 2022, after the High Court granted her habeas corpus application. - BERNAMA