Muslim custody case dad is broke

IPOH: The Indira Ghandi custody case has taken a twist, with her ex-husband reportedly running short of money to pay legal fees in the on-going battle for their youngest child, Prasana Diksa.
Indira's lawyer, M. Kulasegaran, said they are shocked by the recent revelation that Muhammad Riduan Abdullah (formerly K. Pathmanathan) is unable to pay his legal fees.
"The case has dragged on too long and now we have to put up with such reasons from him. He is appealing for donations," he said in a statement today.
The Muslim convert had appealed for donations through the PAS tabloid "Harakah Daily" which published his plight today.
Just as shocking was Muhammad Riduan's claims that the two other siblings want to be with their father.
Indira said this is far from the truth as her convert husband had not been providing any money for the well-being of the two children and had not seen or visited them since 2009.
According to Indira, her former husband had been unemployed most of the time during their marriage.
Muslim Lawyers Association of Malaysia president Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, when asked whether the association would provide financial assistance to Muhammad Riduan, said: "We are unaware of the reports. We represented him at one stage of the court proceedings and the association did not charge any fees then."
The association's deputy president Abdul Rahim Sinwan said during the month of Ramadan, people can be very gracious.
"To me, he should not take advantage of Ramadan graciousness," Abdul Rahim told theSun today. The Ipoh High Court on May 30 ordered the father to be arrested for failing to hand over the child to the mother as ordered by the court.
On June 30, Indira filed an application to compel Inspector-General of Police Tan Khalid Abu Bakar to execute the warrant of arrest.
Earlier, Khalid said police would not arrest Muhammad Riduan as they were caught in the middle of two legal systems.
The attorney-general issued a media statement on June 26 stating that his office will file papers to intervene in on-going interfaith custody cases at the appeal stage.
Kulasegaran said they have been served papers by the Attorney-General's Chambers to intervene at the Court of Appeal.
The matter has been fixed for hearing on July 24.