KOTA KINABALU: Police will not enforce child custody orders in the guardianship battle cases of S. Deepa and M. Indira Gandhi, said Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
Although orders had been issued by the Syariah High Court and the civil court, he said police would be fair and would not favour any party.
"We do not want to get caught in between the two orders of these courts. So, to be fair, police will not enforce the orders. I have instructed Negri Sembilan and Perak police chiefs to consult those involved in the custody battles to allow the children to be placed under a community welfare care centre" he said after a meeting at the state police headquarters here, yesterday.
On May 27, the Court of Appeal had rejected an application by N. Viran, whose Muslim name is Izwan Abdullah, to stay the Seremban High Court order on April 7, which had given custody of his two children to ex-wife S. Deepa.
He embraced Islam in 2012 and converted his two children to Islam without Deepa's knowledge.
M. Indira Gandhi, a kindergarten teacher in Ipoh, too, faced a similar custody battle after her ex-husband K. Patmanathan, who goes by the name Muhammad Ridzuan Abdullah, converted their three children to Islam after embracing the religion in 2009.
In April 2009, Ridzuan was granted custody of the children, but in March 2010 the Ipoh High Court granted custody of the children to Indira.
