However, Abdul Majeed Gulam Kader, 54, told Berita Harian that no action was taken on his complaint, which was lodged in 1996.
“So
my wife and our children followed her earlier religion. My in-law's
also interfered even before my children were teenagers, then I lost my
job and became unemployed.“My in-laws are Hindu but my wife converted to Islam in 1979. I was born Muslim, but libelous reports say that my name before converting was Mahendran,” he was quoted by the daily as saying.
Perkim, among others, assists those interested to convert or have converted to Islam.
Abdul Majeed reportedly said that his wife, who is bride Zarina's mother, converted to Islam at Perkim and that all his children were born of Muslim parents.
Children taught Hinduism
Abdul Majeed added that he was at loggerheads with his wife and in-laws as his wife's family insisted on exposing his children to Hindu teachings when he was at work.
The pressure led him to drug addiction, resulting in imprisonment for three months in 1990.
He said they became estranged after a fued with his in-laws in 2000 when he scolded another daughter for staying out late.Zarina's wedding according to Hindu rites at a Petaling Jaya temple was disrupted by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) as the department suspected she is Muslim.
She insists that she was born and raised Hindu and was converted without consent by her estranged father, who converted to Islam.
Jais has since said that they will assist Zarina, who is now not in the country, to amend her name and religious status with the National Registration Department (NRD).
However, the NRD said that it can only change someone's religion status from Islam upon order form the Syariah Court.
