PETALING JAYA: Kindergarten teacher M Indira Gandhi
(pic) will file a RM100 million civil suit against Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Abdul Hamid Bador, police and the government in the Kuala Lumpur High Court this week for their “inaction” in locating her daughter after more than a decade.
Indira’s daughter, Prasana Diksa, was taken away by her former husband, Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, in 2009 when she was just 11 months old, and despite Hamid stating in January he knew where Riduan was, the mother and daughter have yet to be reunited.
“They have given us nothing but empty promises,” said Indira’s lawyer, Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal.
“The IGP had made representations that he knew where K Pathmanathan (Riduan) was (and) we have given the police time to expedite the process, but it has been almost a year.
“We want to hold them accountable for not following the court order. Indira needs to receive some form of justice,” he said.
The Ipoh High Court ordered police in June 2014 to provide it a monthly report until Prasana was returned to Indira, and in 2016, the Federal Court issued an order for then IGP Khalid Abu Bakar to arrest Ridhuan and return Prasana.
Riduan converted to Islam in 2009 before converting their three children without Indira’s consent, with the Federal Court declaring the unilateral conversion unlawful in a landmark decision in 2018.
Indira Gandhi Action Team spokesman Arun Doraisamy said Indira had filed a judicial review at the Ipoh High Court with regard to the 2014 court order which instructed the police to provide monthly progress reports outlining their efforts to trace Prasana.
The review will be up for case management on Dec 17.
Apart from the judicial review and the RM100 million suit, Doraisamy said there were also plans to file a mandamus order against Hamid.
A mandamus order is a court order compelling a government official to fulfil their official duties.
Hamid’s highly anticipated meeting with Indira on Sept 3 was postponed because of an appointment he had in Putrajaya, and subsequent attempts to set up another meeting have left Indira frustrated.
“There is no appetite from the police to solve this case,” said Doraisamy.
“Despite their agreeing to reschedule the meeting, when we wrote to them on Sept 7 to do so, there was no response.
“We have the feeling that there is continuous ignorance and denial from the police in this case, so we have decided we will take this to the court.”
