PUTRAJAYA – The Court of Appeal has fixed January 10 to hear Hindu mother Loh Siew Hong’s appeal challenging her children’s unilateral conversion to Islam.
This was confirmed by lawyer Gunamalar Joorindanjn, who appeared for Loh in the appeal’s case management today.
Previously, the Court of Appeal was scheduled to hear the case today.
Loh filed the appeal on May 13 following high court judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh’s decision to dismiss her application to challenge the conversion on May 11.
Wan Ahmad Farid, in his judgment, ruled that the children’s conversion that took place in Perlis in 2017 was valid, and that there was no evidence that the children had reverted to Hinduism when placed under Loh’s custody.
Loh is seeking a declaration that her children profess Hinduism and that they were legally unfit to convert to Islam without her consent.
She is also seeking to reverse her children’s conversion to Islam, which was registered on July 7, 2020.
Loh named the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIPS) mualaf registrar, Perlis Mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin and the Perlis state government in her suit.
Earlier, on a separate application, the Kuala Lumpur High Court, on October 11, dismissed MAIPS’ bid to vary the custody order for Loh’s three children. MAIPS had sought to assume responsibility in teaching Islam to the three children. – October 19, 2023