The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) has condemned the Malacca Syariah High Court's ruling which has forced the separation of a couple and their 18-month-old daughter.

Hindraf chairperson P Wathyamoorthy said the court's stipulation that Siti Fatimah Abdul Karim (or M Revathi), 29, must stay with her Muslim convert parents has prevented her from being reunited with her husband V Suresh, 29.

"To deny the core rights of the natural parents to be together with their children or to deny them either partially and or wholly their right to remain united infringes on their democratic and constitutional rights," Wathyamoorthy said in a statement today.

Released last Thursday after she had been detained for 180 days at a faith rehabilitation camp in Ulu Yam, Selangor, Revathi insisted that she is not Muslim and that she would continue to use her Hindu name.

The court ordered her to stay with her parents - her mother already has custody of Revathi's daughter.

Although Revathi married Suresh in 2004 according to Hindu rites, the marriage was not registered because of her status as a Muslim in her identity document.

She was detained and sent to the camp in January, the day she applied to the Malacca Syariah High Court for permission to renounce Islam and declare herself a Hindu.

Wathyamoorthy said it is "unlawful and against international democratic standards" to impose conditions on the couple with regard to forging a family.

"A united family has always been the corner stone of a strong society... the ruling of the Syariah court reflects failure to appreciate and value of family union," he said.

He said such problems are increasingly common and that the repercussions within the family institution and society are at worrying levels.

"The government must be more serious in resolving problems of this nature and not hide behind Syariah laws (as its) values (in this context) are not consistent with the growth and pace of society," he added.

"If the government does not act now to control the acts of the Islamic religious authorities, this country will sink into the deep sea of religious fanaticism."

REVATHI: That's my name, forever