Malaysia’s human rights commission on Tuesday urged the country’s police chief to immediately enforce a long-standing court order to locate the missing daughter of Ipoh resident M. Indira Gandhi, in a custody row linked to religious conversion that has stretched on for 16 years.
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The renewed pressure comes after Indira’s 1.8km (1.1 miles) march to the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman on Saturday, where she sought to hand over her missing daughter’s old teddy bear to Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail as a symbolic gesture.
More than 200 protesters waited nearly four hours, but Khalid did not appear, despite organisers giving prior notice.
Indira, a Hindu mother from Ipoh, has been at the centre of one of Malaysia’s most closely watched custody disputes related to religious conversion since 2009, when her then-husband – a Hindu who had converted to Islam – changed their children’s religion without her consent. Muhammad Riduan Abdullah disappeared with the couple’s youngest child, 11-month-old Prasana Diksa.
The case later became a flashpoint in national debates over parental rights, religious freedom and enforcement of judicial rulings in a dual secular and Islamic legal system.
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The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, or Suhakam, said it was “deeply concerned” by continued delays and warned that the Royal Malaysia Police had a legal duty to act.