Penang Mum Pleads For Help To Find Missing Toddler

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V Thevitthra shows a picture of her three-year-old daughter, K Krisha.GEORGE TOWN: A mother is asking for help in locating her three-year-old daughter, who has been taken out of the country by her estranged husband.
Bank officer V Thevitthra, 30, said she was granted full custody of their only child, K Krisha, amid divorce proceedings with her husband.
Now living separately, he was allowed to visit Krisha twice a month, with each visit limited to seven hours in a public space.
However, on Sept 2, he drove off with Krisha after her mother dropped her off at a mall on Gurney Drive. That evening, while her mother was waiting for her to return, she received a text from her husband claiming they had “gone to KL”.
Thevitthra then lodged a police report at the nearby Pulau Tikus station. Despite being told that she had full custody of her child, an officer investigating her case said Thevitthra should not fret since “she was not kidnapped, and she was with her father”.
After her husband began refusing to take her calls, she told the High Court which ordered him to hand the child over on Oct 28. The husband and his family, however, refused to hand over the child, claiming she was “afraid” to meet her mother.
The husband also ignored another court order to return the child by Nov 5. The man was absent during a scheduled divorce proceeding at the same court on Nov 7.
“At that time, I suspected they might have left the country, since he and his family are not at home, too,” Thevitthra said.
Her hunch was proven when the immigration department confirmed in a letter that her daughter had left the Gelang Patah checkpoint in Johor on Nov 5.
The High Court issued an order on Nov 21, instructing the police to find the toddler and bring her back to her mother. The husband’s passport was also ordered to be blocked.
Thevitthra went to Singapore in search of her daughter, since she was last seen by immigration crossing Gelang Patah to Tuas.
She lodged a report, following which an officer at the Clementi neighbourhood police centre told her that they could search for the child, but only if their Malaysian counterparts made a formal request.
Thevitthra said there had been no action despite repeated attempts for an update and help from the Selangor and Penang police to locate her child. The immigration department informed her that Krisha remained out of the country as of two weeks ago.
FMT has contacted the Malaysian and Singaporean police for comment. - FMT

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