1. What is the status of the children? Anak luar nikah since marriage is not legal? 2. What is the mother name in the birth certificate? 3. Is the religion stated as Hindu in birth cert? 4. What we can do to help Marimuthu and his family? Eldest son not schooling; they don’t have enough food? Will they later regret staying true to their religion when after all the noise, they still end up alone and poor? I mean, if they converted, help will come from all quarters. 5. Can the couple get married legally without either one converting? 6. Is Raimah to be penalised for “khalwat/zina”?
Who can answer this? Lawyers? MHS? Cabinet? PM? Samy Vellu? Jabatan Agama Islam? Jabatan Pendaftaran?
Whatever it is, the way the department handled this issue, with the video clip of Al Jazeera program available all over the net and newspapers highlighting this, it is indeed a slap in the face for Islam in Malaysia. Even if the religion is acceptable, the followers really make a mess out of it. We are more worried now than before.
Marimuthu gets his ‘snatched’ children back By : Teresa Yong
BATANG KALI: Last night, after 33 days of separation, rubber tapper P. Marimuthu was finally reunited with his six children.
His sad face broke into a smile as all his children rushed to hug and greet him as they reached their family home in Kampung Stesyen Tambahan, Ulu Yam Lama here.
His youngest son, Kaberan, 4, clung to him and played with his earlobes, which he habitually does when he goes to bed with Marimuthu.
Similarly, Shamala, 5, was also clingy, while the older ones, Yoogenaswary, 13, Paramila, 11, Hariharan, 8, and Ravindran, 6, were all smiling and happy to pose for the press.
“I will sleep easy tonight. I have not been sleeping and eating since they were taken away (by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department) officials on April 2). “I will look after them with the help of my oldest son Muniswaran,” said Marimuthu.
The separation came about after Marimuthu and his companion, Raimah Bibi Noordin, reached a settlement at the High Court in Shah Alam on Wednesday.
Marimuthu and Raimah had spent 21 years together and had seven children but they were not legally married.
In the court, Raimah, 39, said she was a born Muslim and would remain one.
Marimuthu can now raise his children in the Hindu faith, while Raimah, in return, has been given absolute access to her children at any time.
Their son Muniswaran, 14, who had dropped out of school, said he would take care of his siblings when his father was at work.
Asked how they would cope, he said: “We can eat porridge as long as we stay together as a family.”
Selangor state legal adviser Datuk Zauyah B. Loth Khan, who appeared for Jais, did not object to the agreement in court.