OF RAPE IN INDIA & CONVERTING A CHILD TO ISLAM IN MALAYSIA: 7 YEARS & COUNTING

I would like juxtapose two issues for your kind consideration. Firstly, the issue of rape by minors : the gang rape of a 23 years old medical student on a public bus, on 16 December 2012 that sparked large protests across the capital Delhi.

Secondly, the issue of unilateral conversion of minors : the case of Indira Gandhi pertaining to the abduction of a 11 months old Prasana and the unilateral conversion of Prasana, her 12 years old sister and her 11 years old brother on 3 April 2009 by their father (converted to Muslim on 11 March 2009) using their birth certificates AND the case of Deepa pertaining to the unilateral conversion of a 4 years old boy and his 7 years old sister on April 2013 and the violent abduction of the boy by his then recently converted father with a history of domestic violence, on 9 April 2014 that sparked a constitutional crisis pertaining to unilateral conversion across Malaysia.

For the first issue, the rape victim was with a male friend who was severely beaten with an iron rod during the incident. This same rod was used to penetrate her so severely that the victim's intestines had to be surgically removed. She died 13 days after the attack. The following day, on 17 December 2012, there was an uproar in the Indian parliament over the incident. MPs in both houses had set aside their regular business to discuss the gruesome rape case and demanded strict punishment for those who carried out the attack. Leader of the opposition, Sushma Swaraj, demanded that "the rapists should be hanged". Thousands of mostly young people participated in a massive demonstration on 22 December 2012 in protest.

The Indian police arrested six men suspected of rape. One of the men arrested was released on 20 December 2015. because he was just shy of his 18th birthday on the night of the rape. He served only three years in custody, a sentence that many felt amounted to a severe miscarriage of justice. His release triggered calls to carry out changes in the juvenile law.

Two days later, India's Parliament approved amendments to the country's long-standing juvenile law on 23 December 2015, paving the way for the prosecution of juvenile suspects, as young as 16 to 18 years old, to be tried as adults if they were accused of such "heinous crimes."

For the second issue, the opposition DAP MP, Kulasegaran raised this issue of unilateral conversion in Parliament as more often than not the non-converting spouse has no legal recourse. A high level Cabinet committee was formed almost immediately. On April 2009, the then de facto Law Minister Datuk Seri Nazri stated in Parliament that the children of conversion would be raised up in the religion prior to conversion and a Cabinet directive was issued to the effect. As a lawyer who has been fighting for Indira Gandhi, Kulasegaran had once again in March 2010 called on the Malaysian lawmakers in Parliament to address the issue of problems resulting from unilateral conversions to Islam. However, the Malaysian police refused to execute the civil court orders to restore custody of the child(ren) back to non-converting parent.

7 years have passed since the Cabinet directive was announced by Nazri but it was nothing more than merely lip service. On 9 January 2016, the MIC chairman paid more lip service as he announced that the cabinet was still looking into the unilateral conversion matter. The Malaysian government is dragging its feet and lacks the political will to implement their Cabinet directive by coming out with a permanent solution.

The latest Federal Court decision of Deepa failed to address the unilateral conversion issue even though it clearly held that marriages contracted under civil law are the sole jurisdiction of the civil courts. The Deepa decision also failed to address the police inaction and seems to condone the abduction of children.

If the Indian Parliament can do it in 2 days, I don't see why Indira Gandhi has to be separated from her daughter for 8 years !! The unilateral conversion of minor children has caused abominable pain and sufferings to the non-converting spouse. The need is now more urgent than ever for an effective and conclusive legal remedy to circumvent the prolonged and persistent recurrence of this social injustice. It is the duty of of the Malaysian Parliament to elucidate and bring a closure on issues of conversions and custody of children by amending the relevant laws.

Nicole Tan Lee Koon

DAP Wanita National Executive Committee (NEC) member

DAP Negeri Sembilan State Committee