R Renuga, the lawyer for bank officer V Thevitthra, said the Shah Alam High Court granted her client sole custody of K Krisha on May 17 and dismissed the husband’s “spurious” claims in court.
“Her husband attended the High Court proceedings on May 17 via Zoom, where Justice Julie Lack delivered her verdict granting sole custody of Krisha to Thevitthra.
“The judge also dismissed the originating summons application from the husband and all of the interlocutory applications within. The judge sided with Thevitthra’s submissions,” Renuga told FMT.
Renuga said she only received a notice of appeal dated June 19 by the husband’s lawyer yesterday morning.
“We did not receive a stay of execution and my client has instructed us to proceed with committal proceedings and the filing of a divorce petition.”
Given the High Court’s ruling in Thevitthra’s favour, she said the daughter must be reunited with her mother. “In her ruling, Justice Julie emphasised that the child be returned to the mother immediately.”
Renuga also said Selangor police had informed her in writing that Interpol had revealed that her client’s husband and Krisha had flown to Bangalore, India, on Nov 7, 2023 from Singapore.
Their present whereabouts have yet to be ascertained, she said.
Thevitthra, 30, said while she was elated that the High Court had ruled in her favour, she remained dejected as she had no clue where her daughter was.
“I just want my daughter back,” she said, claiming that her estranged husband remained unreachable.
When contacted, her husband’s lawyer Sreedhara Naidu said he had instructed his client to adhere to the court order while appealing the decision. He also confirmed there was no stay of execution.
FMT has contacted Selangor police for comment.
Thevitthra was previously granted interim custody of her daughter Krisha amid ongoing divorce proceedings.
Her husband, who lived separately, was allowed to meet the girl twice a month for up to seven hours each time, in a public place, as ordered by the High Court.
During one of these visits last September, Krisha’s father drove off with her from a mall in Gurney Drive. Later that evening, Thevitthra received a text message from her husband saying they had “gone to KL”.
Thevitthra subsequently lodged a police report at the Pulau Tikus station. Although she had interim custody of their daughter at the time, an investigating officer sought to assure her that the child had not been kidnapped since she was with her father, R Kannan.
When contacted, Kannan reiterated concerns he had made in his affidavit regarding the child’s safety.
He also said the child was with him, and that he was contactable at any time.