Kota Kinabalu: A woman from Nabawan lodged a police report claiming she was registered as a Muslim without her knowledge or consent, alluding to a possible conversion syndicate operating in the interior.
Marni Pengeran, 38, was accompanied by her brother-in-law Raymond Ahuar and lawyer Sazalye Donol Abdullah when she filed the report at the Kota Kinabalu District Police Headquarters on Sunday.
The report supplements an earlier police complaint made in Nabawan earlier this month.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});Marni claimed she never applied to convert to Islam and was unaware that her name was registered as a Muslim in the religious authority’s database since 2009.
“I never signed any form or gave consent nor have I recited the syahadah. I only discovered this when my husband checked a list of Muslim converts in our district prepared by a local religious officer.
“The year I was allegedly converted I was working in Nabawan and they used a picture of me wearing a tudung. I had no interaction with any religious authority,” she said.
The case came to light earlier this year when a proposal was made to hold a programme for Muslim converts in Nabawan. Marni’s name appeared on the list, prompting her family to investigate further.
Despite her Christian faith being reflected in her identity documents, records from the Sabah Islamic Affairs Department (Jheains) indicated otherwise.
Marni, married with four children aged 6 to 13 and living as a Christian, said the situation caused significant emotional distress and confusion for her family.
“My children are Christian. This false record threatens the unity and future of my family,” she said.
Her lawyer highlighted that the alleged conversion lacked legal validity.
“A genuine conversion requires a clear and voluntary declaration, including a sworn statement. None of this was done.
“Even the thumbprint in the official documents does not match Marni’s. Police should investigate the individuals named in the documents, including a religious officer and two witnesses.
“We suspect this could be part of a wider syndicate falsifying conversion records in remote regions,” he said.
He said the case is being framed both as a criminal investigation into possible document forgery and as a civil matter for Marni to clear her religious status through the Syariah Court.
“For now, her MyKad still shows her as a Christian, but records within religious departments say otherwise, which may affect her legal standing in the future,” Sazalye said.
Marni’s family also discovered that her deceased aunt, who was buried according to Christian rites, was listed as a Muslim in government records.
Raymond said this raises concerns about posthumous misrepresentation and administrative malpractice.
Just to further complicate matters, the second witness for Marni’s conversion is Datuk Sangkar Rasam @ Mohd Sharudin whose wife, Datin Rufinah Pangeran, had ousted Raymond as Pensiangan PKR branch chief in their party’s ballots in April.
Sazalye, their lawyer, was the former Kota Marudu branch chief and current Sabah PKR Secretary. Sangkar is a State Leadership Council member while Raymond is Vice Chairman.
However, Raymond stressed that the matter should not be politicised.
“We must uphold justice, even if it involves family members or political figures. This is a matter of human rights and faith,” he said.
