Kuala Lumpur, May 3 (PTI): A court in Malaysia today gave an ethnic Hindu, who is married to a Muslim woman, custody of their seven children after it ruled that they cannot live together because of their different faiths.

Marimuthu Periasamy and Raimah Bibi Noordin, both of Indian-origin, could have lived together if he had converted to Islam.

They have been married for 21 years.

This is the first time Malay court has given custody of children to a Hindu man. However, legally the children can be considered Muslim like their mother.

A sobbing 39-year-old Raimah told the judge that she would give her husband custody of the children aged between four and 14. The Islamic affairs department reportedly had no objection to the children being brought up as Hindus.