KUALA LUMPUR – Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy, the former husband of Loh Siew Hong, who was at the centre of a highly publicised custody and religious conversion dispute, has died at the age of 38.
His passing was confirmed by Loh’s lawyer, Shamsher Singh Thind, who said Nagahswaran died yesterday, FMT reported.
Nagahswaran and Loh were involved in a lengthy legal battle after he unilaterally converted their three children to Islam and took them to Perlis in 2020.
At the time, Loh had already been granted interim custody by the courts in December 2019, which was later upgraded to full custody in March 2021. The couple’s divorce was finalised in September of the same year.
Having left Nagahswaran in 2019 following allegations of domestic abuse, Loh filed for a habeas corpus application in early 2022 to reclaim custody of the children.
The High Court ruled in her favour, paving the way for her reunion with them after they had been placed in the care of preacher Nazirah Nanthakumari Abdullah.
That same year, Loh initiated judicial review proceedings to challenge the conversion of her children. In April 2024, the Federal Court affirmed that the consent of both parents is required for the conversion of a minor, effectively confirming that the children remained Hindus.
An appeal by the Perlis government seeking to overturn the ruling and restore the children’s status as Muslims was dismissed in April this year.
During the custody proceedings, it was revealed that Nagahswaran had a prior conviction for a drug-related offence. He was placed under restricted residence in Kelantan in November 2020 and released two years later.
Loh cited his criminal record as part of her argument for custody.
His imprisonment coincided with a period in which Loh said she was recovering from abuse and hospitalisation, further complicating the legal dispute.
In July 2023, Nagahswaran was charged at the Sungai Petani sessions court with causing grievous hurt to Loh at their home in Taman Ria, Sungai Petani, on March 3, 2019. He pleaded not guilty and was released on RM10,000 bail with a condition to stay away from Loh and prosecution witnesses.
The trial was scheduled to begin in September this year. — June 11, 2025