Five IGPs on and none could give proper report on my daughter - Indira Gandhi

M Indira Gandhi said the Home Ministry must take a more serious approach in dealing with efforts to trace her missing daughter rather than merely informing her that her fugitive ex-husband is no longer in the country.

The “exhausted” mother told Malaysiakini that the government must explain how Muhammad Riduan Abdullah was able to escape past the border in contempt of a 2016 court order instructing his arrest and that her daughter is returned to her.

“I am very exhausted by the unreasonable (explanations) given by the higher authorities in this country. It is a shame and disappointment to this whole nation,” she said when contacted.

In the time her youngest daughter Prasana Diksa was allegedly abducted by her then estranged husband back in 2009 to today, Indira pointed out that five inspector-generals of police have served.

Yet none seem closer to giving the anguished mother-of-three a “proper report” on the whereabouts of her missing child.

'No proper documentation'

Prasana was just 11-months-old when she was taken away by Muhammad Riduan, previously known as K Patmanathan, after he converted to Islam. She turned 12 earlier this year.

“The home ministry needs to take this case more seriously than just saying Muhammad Riduan is not in the country. How does he leave the country in contempt of court order?

“This saga has seen (five) IGPs... till to date none of them have given a proper report on Prasana or Ridhuan.

Aside from current Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Abdul Hamid Bador, who was appointed in May 2019, other IGPs to have served since the start of the case include Musa Hasan (2006-2010), Ismail Omar (2010-2013), Khalid Abu Bakar (2013-2017), and Mohd Fuzi Harun (2017-2019).

Indira was responding to the statement by the Home Ministry, in a written reply to the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, that Muhammad Riduan was no longer in Malaysia.

“(He) does not stay in one place abroad, but moves from one place to another in an effort to prevent detection, and making it difficult for authorities to investigate,” the reply read. The country Riduan is currently in was not disclosed.

To this, Indira, 45, asked: “How could Riduan have left the country when his passport has (allegedly) expired and Prasana has no proper documentation with her?”

“[...] Is our court system a failure or is there a hidden agenda behind all this?”

When asked how her other two children, now aged 22 and 21 respectively, were coping, she said they were aware of the ongoing case and miss their younger sister very much.

However, Indira, who is now the sole breadwinner in the family, said she is taking pains to shield them as they are still completing their studies.

Meanwhile, she said plans for a hunger strike on Sept 11 were still in motion unless she or the Indira Gandhi Action Team (Ingat), which is representing her, received concrete news on Prasana by Abdul Hamid by Aug 31.

No request to Thai police?

Indira’s saga began when Muhammad Riduan unilaterally converted the couple’s three children to Islam in April 2009.

Following a lengthy court battle, during which time the custody of the children was granted to Indira, the Federal Court in 2018 nullified the conversion of all three siblings to Islam.

Before that in 2016, the apex court also instructed then IGP Khalid Abu Bakar to arrest Muhammad Riduan and reinstated a mandamus order issued by the Ipoh High Court two years earlier for Prasana’s retrieval.

A mandamus order is a court order compelling a government official to properly fulfil their official duties.

In a separate statement to Malaysiakini, Ingat chairperson Arun Dorasamy refuted the ministry’s excuse that the fugitive was hard to track, and he believed Prasana is still in the country.

Instead, Ingat is claiming Muhammad Ridhuan could be somewhere at the border region of Golok, Thailand, near the Kelantan border and has been returning to this side of the border to meet with his new wife and family.

Arun further questioned why authorities have yet to blacklist Muhammad Riduan’s passport, which purportedly expired in 2019.

He also alleged no request was made to Thai police to trace him nor attempts made to question Riduan’s new wife.

“We manage to confirm with Thai police officers that there were no formal requests from the Home Ministry or police of any sort in regards to fugitive Muhammad Riduan or Prasana Diksa.

“Ingat’s investigative team is confident Prasana is in the country, and Riduan can be tracked within the (Thai) southern border region and northern Malaysia.”

Ex-police chief Fuzi had in 2018 said that Riduan was still in Malaysia.

In January, IGP Abdul Hamid controversially said he knew where Riduan was and urged him to come forward to solve his custody dispute with Indira amicably. - Mkini