Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy, the former husband of Loh Siew Hong, has passed away at the age of 38. His death was confirmed by Loh’s lawyer, Shamsher Singh Thind. Nagahswaran had previously been at the centre of a high-profile custody dispute after he unilaterally converted their three children to Islam and took them to Perlis in 2020.
At the time of the incident, Loh had already been granted custody of the children through a series of court decisions — beginning with an interim custody order in December 2019, which was later upgraded to full custody by March 2021. The couple’s divorce was officially finalised in September 2021.
Loh had separated from Nagahswaran in 2019, citing domestic abuse. In early 2022, she filed a habeas corpus application to regain custody of her children. The High Court eventually ruled in Loh’s favour, leading to her reunion with the children, who had previously been under the care of preacher Nazirah Nanthakumari Abdullah.
Later that same year, Loh initiated a judicial review to contest the children’s unilateral conversion. In April 2024, the Federal Court ruled that the consent of both parents is required for a child’s religious conversion, affirming that Loh’s children remained Hindus.
A final appeal by the Perlis government to overturn this decision and reinstate the children’s Muslim status was rejected in April this year.
Nagahswaran had a prior criminal record and was placed under restricted residence in Kelantan in November 2020 due to a drug-related offence. He was released from the restriction in November 2022. His conviction surfaced during the custody dispute with his ex-wife, and Loh cited it as one of the key factors in her case for securing custody of their children.
Nagahswaran’s imprisonment overlapped with the period during which Loh was reportedly recovering from domestic abuse and undergoing hospital treatment, adding another layer of complexity to the widely followed case.
In July 2023, he was formally charged at the Sungai Petani Sessions Court for allegedly causing grievous bodily harm to Loh at their residence in Taman Ria, Sungai Petani, on March 3, 2019.
Nagahswaran pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released on bail set at RM10,000. As part of his bail conditions, he was instructed to stay away from Loh and all witnesses involved in the case until the trial concluded. The Sessions Court had set the criminal trial to begin in September this year.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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