I Just Want My Daughter To Come Home Safely Says Mum

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Thevitthra Viswanathan holding up a picture of her estranged husband with her daughter at an earlier press conference.
PETALING JAYA: Thevitthra Viswanathan, 31, is still searching for her four-year-old daughter, Krisha Kannan, who was taken abroad by her father against court orders.
The High Court in Shah Alam issued an arrest warrant for the father, Kannan Rajaratnam last month after he refused to return the child and was found to be in contempt of court.
The court order, sighted by FMT, was made on Nov 26 and signed by assistant registrar Nurdiana Nazari.
Earlier this year, the same High Court gave Thevitthra full custody of her daughter pending the disposal of her divorce proceedings.
In September last year, Kannan took the child from Penang to the Klang Valley during a court-approved visit while their divorce proceedings were under way. He eventually took the girl out of the country in November the same year.
It has been 16 months since Krisha was taken away from her mother, who was granted interim custody of the child.
Since then, her father (Kannan) has ignored repeated court orders to bring the child back to her mother, High Court Justice Julie Lack said when ruling in favour of the mother.
Thevitthra had since filed for contempt proceedings against her estranged husband for ignoring court orders. This saw the court issuing a warrant of arrest for Kannan and his sister, Rajarajeswary Rajaratnam, 29.
“All I want is for my daughter to come home safely and I want to hold her in my arms,” Thevitthra said when contacted.
The former banker, who is breaking her silence after the courts ruled in her favour, expressed hope police would act immediately on the arrest warrant, which was issued nearly a month ago.
She said based on an e-visa made under her daughter’s name, she is currently in India.
“Despite us going to the police a few times, we were not given solid answers. My lawyer’s letters to the police were not replied. Even the court has reminded the police to follow the orders.”
In his filings at the High Court, Kannan claimed he took his daughter away to protect her, accusing Thevitthra of neglect and abuse.
However, the High Court had rejected these claims, saying there was no evidence to support them. The court reprimanded Kannan for breaking the law and said his actions were harmful to the child’s well-being.
In her grounds of judgment, Lack said while Kannan did not follow court orders, he had no hesitation in bringing requests and interlocutory applications to the court.
Lack said a person against whom a court order has been issued must obey it until it is overturned or changed. She said disobedience of court orders risked him being held in contempt and warned that this carried serious legal consequences.
When contacted, Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan told FMT that he would look into the matter. - FMT

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