GEORGE TOWN: The burial of a Chinese woman according to Taoist rites here today was forced to be halted after it was discovered the deceased had converted to Islam about 17 years ago.
Fortunately, there was no untoward incident when several officers from the State Islamic Religious Department went to stop the funeral of Teoh Cheng Cheng, 38, when they visited her family home in Taman Pelangi at Lebuh Maccallum here at about 2.30pm.
However, Teoh's family members, were stunned when the officers showed documents that she had converted to Islam and took the name Nora Teoh Abdullah when she married a Muslim man in 1997.
Nora's mother, only known as Madam Tan, fainted upon learning of her daughter's conversion, a secret she had kept from many family members all these years. Some family members were believed to have known about Nora befriending a Malay man when she was 20 but were not aware that she had married him and converted to Islam.
After a lengthy discussion between Nora's family members and the officers, both sides agreed to send her body to Penang Hospital mortuary.
Checks showed Nora was found hanged from an iron grille of a window at her apartment here at about 3am last Saturday.
It was learnt that she had kept her conversion and marriage from her family for fear of being rejected and ostracised.
Meanwhile, State Islamic Religious Department director Datuk Sazali Hussein confirmed that Teoh had converted to Islam in 1997.
He said the department would seek the Syariah court's decision to allow Nora to be buried as a Muslim. He said his officers would also meet her family to explain the matter.
