He added that none of his siblings had enquired if their brother was missing or lodged a police report over his disappearance.

The 14th witness in the inquiry, Sungai Way police chief Zulfadhly Yacob, who took over investigations in 2018, said he had attempted to contact all six of Joshua’s siblings.

He said they told him they had lost touch with their brother and were unaware of his whereabouts. The siblings also made up excuses not to meet with the police for follow-up questions.

He added that one of the siblings, Firdaus Hanim, had told a police officer he had no issue about Joshua converting to Christianity.

“Firdaus did not prevent him (Joshua) from embracing another religion.

“Another brother, Naim Hanim, said Hilmi had married a Christian from Indonesia,” the inquiry heard today.

Zulfadhly was responding to Suhakam commissioner Madeline Berma who asked if there was any mention that Joshua had changed his religion in the investigation papers.

He also said Firdaus, in his statement, said he last met the pastor at Taman Teluk Molek in Butterworth in 2012, four years before his disappearance. “He did not state the purpose of the meeting.”

Zulfadhly said Naim had also given his statement to another investigating officer in October 2018 at his house in Butterworth.

“He said he last met him in 2012. He said he was using a Kancil car but did not know the registration number. No other information was given.”

Meanwhile, when asked about whether he had considered whether the pastor had gone missing because of his interfaith marriage, Zulfadhly said he had only investigated the disappearance as a “missing persons” case.

Lawyer Philip Koh, representing the family of Ruth Sitepu, asked Zulfadhly if he was aware of any laws prohibiting such marriages in the country.

He said: “I am not sure.”

Zulfadhly also noted that he had conducted checks on Joshua’s Maybank accounts and found that the last transaction was in 2017.

Ruth and Joshua, a Malay-Muslim who converted to Christianity, have been missing for over three years. They were last seen on Nov 30, 2016.