The civil court has ordered the Royal Malaysia Police to track down a Thai mother’s daughter who was allegedly spirited away by her former Malaysian husband from Thailand into this country.
According to a copy of the interim injunction issued by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur dated June 20, the civil family court directed the 37-year-old father and his family members to hand over the three-year-old girl to her 38-year-old mother.
In the decision delivered in chambers, High Court judge Evrol Mariette Peters also ordered the police to “take every step needed to give full cooperation to the petitioner wife/applicant in implementing the terms of the order.”
According to a copy of her affidavit sighted by Malaysiakini, the Thai citizen explained that she and her daughter moved to Bangkok in December 2021, following a breakdown in the couple’s nearly six-year marriage. Lumpur issued a decree nisi made absolute to annul her marriage to the father on Nov 16, 2021, with the same court granting them joint custody of the child.
She said the man, whose last known job was as a relationship manager with a bank in Singapore, rented a condominium in Thailand to be near their daughter and share the responsibility of taking care of her as she has been residing in the country at all material times.
The petitioner claimed that on April 16 this year, the respondent picked up the girl as usual for the jointly-agreed father-daughter time of two nights from Sunday to Tuesday.
However, the mother claimed that this time, the father failed to return the child to her on April 18.
The Bangkok resident claimed the Malaysian citizen sent a WhatsApp message to her on the same day stating that he would take good care of the child from that day onwards, and that “you (mother) don’t have to wait for her anymore. Thank you.”
She claimed that she immediately called the respondent on his handphone number, to which he told her he took the child to Malaysia and would not allow her to see her daughter again.
The mother claimed she checked the closed circuit television (CCTV) records at the lobby of her condominium and discovered that at about 8.09am on April 16, her ex-husband with his elderly parents left the residence with the child.
Numerous failed attempts
She claimed that the trio was last seen in Songkhla Hotel between 6pm and 7pm the same day, via the hotel’s CCTV footage.
The mother said that after numerous failed attempts to reach her ex-husband, she lodged a police report at Prakhanong Metropolitan police station on April 18.
She claimed that checks with Thai immigration authorities only showed records of her ex-husband and his parents departing Thailand on April 17, but none to show their daughter left the country.
“I am deeply distressed about the well-being of my daughter, as I am uncertain whether she is still in Thailand or if the respondent smuggled her to Malaysia without informing the immigration authorities in both countries.
“This situation raises significant concerns for her safety and whereabouts,” the Thai citizen claimed.
Missing passports
The mother said not only did she lodge a second police report at the Prakhanong Metropolitan police station on April 27, but she also came to Malaysia and made a police report in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, two days later.
She alleged that despite checking her ex-husband’s last known address at Klang, Selangor, she could not find her daughter or anyone else there.
The petitioner claimed that when she lodged the report at Sentul, a police officer there said the respondent had a few days earlier lodged a report about the child’s missing passports.
The Thai citizen contended that the Malaysian man’s alleged abduction of the child exposes her to unnecessary risks and harm as the girl was still a toddler.
“I am also advised that the respondent’s behaviour risks disrupting the stability and routine that are vital for my daughter’s healthy development.
“Sudden change of environment will cause uncertainty, anxiety, and emotional distress to my daughter, which can have long-term negative effects on her well-being,” she said.
Further action
When contacted by Malaysiakini, the mother’s counsel Chen Yu Szen from law firm Messrs Anton & Chen confirmed the injunction issued by the Malaysian family court, adding that they are still unable to locate the father or the child at present.
The lawyer claimed they have yet to hear any updates from the Malaysian police regarding the whereabouts of the child.
When contacted by Malaysiakini via email for a response over the matter, the police indicated the query has been directed to the relevant department for further action.
Meanwhile, according to a copy of a letter from the Royal Thai Embassy to the Malaysian police dated June 23, the kingdom requested its southern neighbour’s enforcement authorities to track down the infant’s whereabouts and repatriate her to the mother “at the earliest opportunity”.
Malaysiakini is withholding the identities of the child as well as the feuding parents, pending attempts to reach out to the father for a response over the matter. - Mkini
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