'Police cannot decide custody issue'

KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council feels the police should not be the arbiters on whether Izwan Abdullah or his ex-wife S. Deepa should have custody over their six-year-old son, Mithran.
Its Human Rights Committee chairman, Andrew Khoo, said it was not for Jelebu police chief DSP Setapa Yusoff to say that father has custodial rights over the child based on last year's Syariah Court ruling that gave him custody over his son.
He said the High Court on Monday had given Deepa custody over Mithran and that Izwan should submit himself to the law instead of taking the law into his own hands.
He told theSun today that in matters pertaining to custodial rights over a child, both parents had to be heard.
"The Syariah Court has no jurisdiction over the mother as she is not a Muslim. The case was heard in a civil court (on Monday) with a ruling that would apply to both parents,' he added.
Khoo said Izwan can challenge the High Court decision.
"The police should investigate this case as a kidnapping case where the child has been forcibly removed from his mother," he added.
The High Court also granted Deepa custody of her daughter, Sharmila, nine.