M Indira Gandhi has urged inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun to make public the status of the search for her daughter Prasana Diksa.
Indira said this is because there are growing doubts over the competence of the police force, with its failure to track down the 11-year-old in the five years since an arrest warrant was issued against her father Mohammad Riduan Abdullah.
“I urge the police to reveal the latest status of the case to the public, or at least to me.
“Ten years have passed, yet the police have yet to track down my child. This is very disappointing,” the former kindergarten teacher told Malaysiakini yesterday.
Indira added that she is beginning to lose confidence in the handling of the case by the police.
Riduan, a Muslim convert previously known as K Patmanathan, had run off with Prasana in 2009 after unilaterally converting all his children to Islam.
Prasana was only 11 months old at the time.
This sparked a prolonged legal battle that involved both the syariah and civil courts. The High Court issued an arrest warrant against Riduan in 2014.
“My child was taken from me when she was 11 months old. Now she is 11 years old. I have not seen her even once.
“I hope the police will give the latest status on my child’s case. As a mother, I have the right to know. I also want to know how the police are searching for my child.
“If you could find (Sungai Besar Umno chief) Jamal Md Yunos in Indonesia in a few days, why can’t you find my child?” Indira asked.
On Jan 14, Fuzi said that police had yet to locate Prasana and Riduan.
Indira expressed gratitude to Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran, who previously represented her in the dispute over the conversion of her children.
“I thank my lawyer Kulasegaran for supporting me all this while. I understand and respect his position,” she said when asked about his statement that he had done his duty in her case.
Kulasegaran told reporters yesterday that he was still working behind the scenes to help Indira, but that he could not continue serving as her lawyer due to his cabinet position. – Malaysiakini