Help find my one-year-old daughter, pleads mum


Malaysiakini | S Pathmawathy | Apr 27, 09 5:02pm

Five thousand missing persons posters have been printed to help find Muslim convert, K Patmanathan, and his one-year-old daughter Prasana Diksa.

wanted Patmanathan

Last week, the Ipoh High Court granted M Indira Ghandi the custody of all her three children, who were converted by their father without her knowledge on April 12, pending the full custody hearing on May 12.

As the older children – Tevi Darsiny, 12 and Karan Dinesh, 11 – were in the care of their mother from the beginning, the court ordered that the youngest child which is in her father’s care to be returned to the mother.

However, despite the court order to return the toddler, the father, who has since the conversion assumed the name Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah, has gone missing.


According to Indira, the police had informed her that they visited Mohd Ridzuan’s mother’s house to look for the child, who was said to be in her grandmother’s care, on Friday but return empty-handed.

“They have not taken the initiative to do anything else to look for him… I am only worried about my baby, I don’t how she is doing as she is so young,” said Indira.

Indira told Malaysiakini that after the court had given the interim order, her husband telephoned her.

“He complained that what I am doing to get my children back as they were, before they were brought into this confusion, is giving him problems,” said Indira.

Indira also said her husband informed her that he was leaving for Singapore with their youngest child and will not return her to the mother despite the court order.

“So with the help of DAP and Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS), we have printed posters with the photo of Mohd Ridzuan and my baby Prasana,” she said.

Refused to accept the Syariah Court order

The life of the Hindu mother took a turn for the worst after discovering that her husband, had converted to Islam last month and converted their children without her knowledge and consent.

Mohd Ridzuan also took custody of the youngest child without getting a mutual agreement and obtained a Syariah Court order to gain custody of his two older children.

In a recent exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, she also claimed that her husband had converted their two older children without their presence and by using their birth certificates.

Indira has sought refuge with a relative in fear that Islamic officials would take the two children away since her husband has a Syariah Court order giving him custody of the children.

However, Indira has refused to accept the Syariah Court order.

Since then, Indira has approached various religious civil society groups to pressure the government to take a firm stand on conversion issues.

Her lawyer, M Kulasegaran, when contacted, informed that they need to serve the court order on Mohd Ridzuan, as the case was to start on May 12.

“Patmanathan (Mohd Ridzuan) is aware of the court order as he had spoken to Indira after the interim order was obtained on Friday.

“In fact, he told Indira that he is taking the child to Singapore with him. We have duly informed the police who have said all border posts have been informed to prevent him leaving the country,” said Kulasegaran, who is also the DAP Ipoh Barat member of parliament.

“Somehow I have a feeling he is hiding in Ipoh and (he) is trying to avoid service of court documents… We had requested the police assistance to print posters of Patmanathan last week but it has not taken place to date,” stated Kulasegaran in his blog.

A test of Najib’s ‘Performance Now’ motto

DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, in his blog entry said that the efficiency of the government agencies in relation to the conversion case is putting to test new Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s “Performance Now” motto.

DAP helps

“Yesterday, I had asked the Ipoh police officers how much longer must Indira wait before the police could discover the baby’s whereabouts and return her to the mother.

“I told them that it would reflect very poorly on the capabilities and performance of the Ipoh police if they could not find the baby girl and return her immediately to her mother,” he exclaimed.

He hinted that Najib should take note of the observation made by Indonesian Islamic scholar and former foreign minister, Dr Alwi Abdurrahman Shihab who was in Malaysia a few days ago, that issues of “forced conversion of children to Islam are unknown in Indonesia, while in Malaysia, it has been allowed to be an increasingly polarising factor in race and religious relations”.

“Forced conversions of children is a most unhealthy phenomenon which should not be continued if Najib is serious about another motto of his philosophy, 1Malaysia,” said Lim.

  1. #1 by All For The Road on Monday, 27 April 2009 - 6:10 pm

    The ‘1Malaysia. People first. Performance now.’ concept is now under seige and under test to perform and walk the talk. There’s no point in shouting slogans without any positive results! It’s now time to act and act fast that is! Whither Malaysia?

  2. #2 by k1980 on Monday, 27 April 2009 - 6:43 pm

    It is probable that her rascal ex-hubby is waiting for the payment of a large sum of money before returning the baby.

  3. #3 by chengho on Monday, 27 April 2009 - 8:08 pm

    Get Mandraf and Hindraf asst….MIC too weak..

  4. #4 by alberttye on Monday, 27 April 2009 - 10:13 pm

    When it comes to this kind of matter, the authority is regretably not very efficient.

    They are only efficient when it comes to chop down the democracy tree or the counting of cars and cows !

  5. #5 by lopez on Monday, 27 April 2009 - 10:36 pm

    what kind of father is this, where the hell he got such an idea,,,,he must be motivated by some derivative faith….

    or maybe he is cornered by his faith followers or there must be some gain that has made him commit such an act,

    well nothing is free, while some things are more free than others , this father must have got a lousy deal…

    i think worse is to come when he dies….it is so predicatable what can happen next….

    When will people learn….but on the other hand what would you do if you are in his shoes…no got money, no govt job , no amanah sham, no discount on house or car, no this and that…and has glass ceilings and locked doors everywhere unless you are…

  6. #6 by frankyapp on Tuesday, 28 April 2009 - 12:19 am

    Wierd things or events keep happening in our motherland.The most recent ones were the sudden disapprearance of Mr.Bala and his family,the Perak state Legislative Assemby meeting under a huge raintree and now the disapprearance of an Indian muslim convert and his one year old daughter.Wierd in Bala’s case,he and members of his family just disappreared into thin air so speedily that the Immigration department could not traced how and where Bala and family vaporised . Legislative Assemby meeting under a huge raintree in a public park,wierd again as no where on earth,an elected state govenment forced to hold it’s official assemby meeting in such a place except in our country/malaysia. The latest case,Patmanathan proved even more wierd because normally when one converts to a religion,one calls for celebration or what christian sometime called it “thanks giving” . But in Patmanathan’s case it’s sadness,headache, cat and mouse game beating around the bush.Come on be honest,who ever is or are responsible for his conversion should bring him and child out to face reality.Why converted someone and later created so much troubles for the innocent one year old child the mother and the rest of their family members One promotes religion out of faith and love.But in this case it promoted religion out of greed,costing great sorrow and disrespect of others .How can the Almiighty ALLAH be pleased with all these wierd and un-holy activities being promoted by some of these wierd but holy guys who thinks what they have done be pleasing to ALLAH ?.

  7. #7 by dawsheng on Tuesday, 28 April 2009 - 12:46 am

    Islam is a beautiful religion.

  8. #8 by anna brella on Tuesday, 28 April 2009 - 2:02 am

    This low-life [deleted] who is clearly unfit to be a parent must be arrested asap and charged with contempt of court and kidnapping.

    Suggest the victimised mother also take legal action against the Government for recklessly putting/leaving in place such carelessly thought through, and consequently dangerous, legislative loopholes that now provide the opportunity to such selfish, manipulative [deleted] to traumatise their spouses and endanger the welfare and well-being of their vulnerable children in this way, and at the same time, act with contempt for Islam by using the conversion to it as a mere tool to achieve their clearly unGodly and unpspiritual ulterior motives.

    And which [deleted] idiot at that Syariah Court actually sanctioned through such a clearly WRONG act, both from the perspective of the good teachings of a moral Islam and from that of basic human decency? Can someone please plaster his [deleted] face on YouTube please?

    And how in God’s name can such crazy things be allowed to happen inside Syariah Courts in the first place without there being some sort of basic procedural safety net measures in place to prevent potential abuse of the conversion process and also to protect the integrity of the Syariah Courts and of Islam itself?

    “Imagine Power To The People” John Lennon.

  9. #9 by passerby on Tuesday, 28 April 2009 - 3:21 am

    A new mamak is now created and is on the run. Where can he be hiding? Maybe check with the chief mamak. He should have some info of his where about.

  10. #10 by chengho on Tuesday, 28 April 2009 - 7:18 am

    Malaysia on high alert over swine flu; any taker..

  11. #11 by cintanegara on Tuesday, 28 April 2009 - 11:13 am

    I wonder how many ordinary Malaysians actually understand what DAP is supposed to stand for? They seem not to be particularly interested in Sharline’s case or a missing boy in Kg Kerinchi…..They are more interested …..helping foreigners (Negarawan Ulung, Tun Dr M used to call them Orang Asing) ………complaining about Telok Dalam resort….Canadian consultant, Manjit Sokhai……woman doing squats.……Or issue of fair benefit to their own community…..rather than helping Malaysian women who were being cheated by their companions and prosecuted by the foreign authorities……Probably, this is Malaysian Malaysia is all about…..

  12. #12 by Toyol on Tuesday, 28 April 2009 - 11:49 am

    PM’s one Malaysia is already a flop before it could even start. Basic human rights ignored, police still sleeping etc. Instead of getting better, we will be worse off than before. What performance? Nothing will change.

  13. #13 by fairvoice on Tuesday, 28 April 2009 - 1:25 pm

    Deh, new mamak Riduan Pathma, if u are truely born from one father and one mother wedlock, u definitely won’t torture a baby by seperating her from her natural mother. U are a disgrace to the human society.
    What ever pleasure u have now is short lived. This I assure, u pig!!!
    I curse your death will be painfull and unthinkable.
    Your dead body will be dragged like a dead dog and will be consumed by the vultures.
    Watch out……….You will regreat u ever born in this world.
    Better u come out openly and surrender the poor baby to the rightful mother.
    Don’t u have a mother or is your mother a Bi……ch parriah!!!!!

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