For four years, lorry driver S Lakshna Rau has lived the same routine. Gruelling 12-hour shifts on the road, followed by sleepless nights scrolling through social media in search of his missing daughter.
His only child, L Nithyashree, now 11, vanished in 2021 after his wife, Shalini Asogan, 35, allegedly took her abroad without notice.
The pair is believed to have joined a South American chapter of the Swami Nithyananda movement, a controversial spiritual sect banned in several countries.
“I have not seen her (Nithyashree) for four years. I am so worried. She left when she was in Year One. I don’t even know if she goes to school,” said Lakshna, his voice breaking as he scrolled through a feed of videos linked to the group.
“People told me to take the legal route, and I did. The court has ruled fully in my favour, yet my wife and daughter are still not on Interpol’s list.”
The High Court in Shah Alam dissolved the marriage in June 2022 and granted Lakshna full custody of Nithyashree. The court also ordered the police, immigration authorities and Interpol to help locate and return the child.
A recovery order issued on Jan 30 last year authorised the authorities to trace the mother and daughter anywhere in or outside the country.
Despite those directives, Lakshna says enforcement has been slow.
“I’ve given every document they asked for. I just want my daughter back,” he said, adding that he had even approached NGOs and the Interpol helpdesk himself.
Shalini resurfaced through lawyers Sumitra Devi & Partners last year to challenge both the divorce and custody orders, calling them “irregular and unjust”.
In a supporting affidavit affirmed on July 18 last year, she claimed she fled Malaysia due to fears for her safety, alleging that her husband had been abusive. The affidavit was signed by Shalini before a notary public in the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean country.
In it she claimed to have no knowledge of the divorce proceedings, and that her husband had obtained an exemption from serving her the court papers.
According to Lakshna’s lawyers, T Santhini and C Archana, neither Shalini nor her counsel turned up at the hearing of the application. The solicitors later withdrew from representing her, as confirmed by lawyer K Sumitra to FMT.
Sumitra’s application was struck out in May this year.
Meanwhile, Lakshna says his focus remains unchanged.
“I’m not after revenge. I just want to know my child is safe. Every night before I sleep, I pray that somewhere she remembers her father.”
FMT has reached out to the police in Penang for an update on a missing persons’ report lodged by Lakshna at the Bukit Tengah station in 2021.
