Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email the 3 articles are from The Sun (1) and NST(2). Sadly, the Star did not have the its version published online.
“Karpal later told reporters Raimah Bibi had filed an affidavit stating she had left her husband’s home willingly and on her own accord”.
“I am not unlawfully detained by anyone. I agree to hand over custody of our children into my husband’s care and I will have unrestricted access to them at all times,” she said.
Both Marimuthu and Raimah Bibi were seen shedding tears after the verdict and spoke to each other briefly.”
– What did you understand after watching the clip from AlJazeera program EveryWoman?
Couple agrees to live apart, custody of children given to Hindu hubby
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=17808
SHAH ALAM (May 3, 2007): A 40-year-old woman today agreed to live apart from her non-Muslim husband and gave him custody of their seven children after choosing to continue practising Islam. She is, however, given unlimited access to her children aged four to 14, the product of their 20-year marriage which was not formally registered.
It was a touching scene at the High Court here when Raimah Bibi Noordin, 40, told Justice Datuk Su Geok Yiam she had agreed to hand over her children to 44-year-old P. Marimuthu whom she had married according to Hindu rites.
Raimah will now live apart from Marimuthu, who will bring up the children, comprising four boys and three girls, according to Hindu tradition.
She will have to fend for herself, with some aid from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS).
Marimuthu had filed a habeas corpus application against JAIS, alleging that his wife and six of their children were being unlawfully detained by JAIS which took them from their home in Kampung Baru Tambahan, Ulu Yam Lama, in Batang Kali, on April 2.
With today’s agreement, the application was withdrawn.
Karpal Singh, who represented Marimuthu, told Su both parties had reached an agreement on the matter.
“The children will be surrendered to Marimuthu and they will continue to be raised as Hindus while Raimah Bibi remains steadfast as a Muslim. She will have absolute access to the children at any time,” said Karpal.
Karpal later told reporters Raimah Bibi had filed an affidavit stating she had left her husband’s home willingly and on her own accord.
State legal adviser Datuk Zauyah Loth Khan, who represented JAIS, told Su the habeas corpus application was withdrawn after Marimuthu agreed his wife was not being unlawfully detained by JAIS.
“The arrangements are as stated by Karpal … access to the children without any restrictions. Raimah Bibi is a Muslim and will continue to practise Islam.”
Karpal then requested the court to hear it personally from Raimah Bibi and to obtain her confirmation on the arrangement.
Clutching her headscarf and wiping away tears, Raimah Bibi nodded and answered the judge’s questions.
“I am not unlawfully detained by anyone. I agree to hand over custody of our children into my husband’s care and I will have unrestricted access to them at all times,” she said.
Both Marimuthu and Raimah Bibi were seen shedding tears after the verdict and spoke to each other briefly.
Outside the courtroom, Karpal said the outcome of the case was akin to that judged by King Solomon, whereby a mother who was involved in dispute with another woman over her baby, decided to let the other woman take her child when the king ordered that the child be split in half and shared.
Asked about the status of Raimah Bibi’s marriage, Karpal said it remained but the couple would be living apart.
The six children are now staying with Raimah Bibi in a rented home in Bandar Utama Batang Kali, about 2km from Marimuthu’s house.
Zauyah, when asked if Raimah Bibi would seek to anull her marriage to Marimuthu, said they had not decided.
DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, who was also present, said the outcome of the case has resulted in an open-ended solution which divided the couple.
Karpal later said an arrangement was being made to take custody of the children from Raimah Bibi today.
Hindu man gets custody of children by Muslim ‘wife’ By : V.Anbalagan
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/Frontpage/20070504074728/Article/index_html
SHAH ALAM: In an about turn, tapper P. Marimuthu will be reunited with his six children today, a month after they were allegedly taken away by the Selangor Religious Department (Jais) officials.
This came about after Marimuthu and his companion, Raimah Bibi Noordin, reached a settlement at the High Court yesterday.
The tapper will now raise his children in the Hindu faith, while Raimah, in return, was given visiting rights.
It has now emerged that although Marimuthu and Raimah spent 21 years together and had seven children, they were not legally married.
In court yesterday, Raimah, 39, said she was a born Muslim and would remain one. Clad in baju kurung and wearing a head scarf, she broke down when judge Datuk Su Geok Yiam asked her whether she was prepared to give up custody of the children.
“Yes, let him raise them,” she said, through an interpreter.
Marimuthu, who was also in court, was in tears.
After the proceedings, the couple spoke to each other while holding hands before Raimah left with Jais officials.
Earlier, Karpal Singh, who appeared for Marimuthu, told the court that the parties had worked the “Solomon’s justice” arrangement, referring to the biblical story of King Solomon settling a dispute between two women over a baby.
Karpal then said Marimu- thu would withdraw his habeas corpus application, bringing to an end the dispute of the religious status of the children.
Selangor state legal adviser Datuk Zauyah B. Loth Khan, who appeared for the department, said they would not object to the agreement.
She, however, pointed out that Raimah and the children were not illegally detained.
On April 19, Marimuthu, filed a habeas corpus application, claiming that his family members were Hindus and that the department had no authority to detain them.
He alleged that Raimah and the children Yoogenaswary, 12, Paramila, 11, Hariharan, 8, Ravindran, 6, Shamala, 5 and Kaberan, 4 were being held unlawfully by the department.
The couple have seven children.
The oldest, a 14-year-old boy was not at their Kampung Baru Tambahan home in Ulu Yam when Jais officials came to take the family away.
Raimah and six of her children were housed in Kampung Melayu Liga Emas in Batang Kali, Selangor.
It was then that Marimuthu sought legal redress, claiming that his “wife” and children were Hindus and that they were being detained by Jais who wanted to convert them.
Raimah, however, in an affidavit filed yesterday, said she and the children left their house on April 2 on their own free will, as Marimuthu had forced her and the children to practise the Hindu faith.
She said in March this year, she went to the Lembaga Zakat Selangor branch office in Kuala Kubu Baru with a relative to inform them of her predicament.
Raimah said she left the house with the children as officers from the department were acting on her complaint.
Zauyah later said the authorities would assist Raimah to find a job.
Marimuthu said he would rely on his older children to take care of their younger siblings while he was away at work.
“We will not shift house. This will make it easier for Raimah to visit our children.”
Relief for most quarters
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/Frontpage/20070504074728/Article/index_html
KUALA LUMPUR: There was a general sense of relief when P. Marimuthu’s children were finally returned to him, although experts lamented the lack of legal clarity over unions of mixed faiths.
Suhakam commissioner Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam said common sense had prevailed as far as the issue was concerned.
“The matter has been settled amicably between the two parties concerned. As long as we are transparent, fair and not overzealous in our decisions, we can live as united Malaysians.”
Bar Council chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan said she was pleased that both parties involved had come to an agreement in the interest of their children.
“Of course, the consent alone doesn’t resolve the legal matter. The law remains uncertain in relation to such matters,” Ambiga said. Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Professor Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi said there were no firm rules in cases like Marimuthu’s.
He said the law was inadequate to deal with a situation where one party is a Muslim and the other a non-Muslim.
“Raimah Bibi Noordin’s situation is very sad because she married for love but due to her religious status, she cannot register her marriage.
“If she wants to reunite with her husband, he must convert or she must formally renounce Islam. Whether or not she wants to now is a different issue.”
Women’s Aid Organisation executive director Ivy Josiah said she hoped the settlement had not been brought about under duress.
“I believe that at a human level, a woman should have the right to be with her husband of choice and a mother to her children at all times.”
