Very important comment on this story. From “Moorthy and beyond” in Malaysiakini, with thanks to bamsterkins:
The alleged conversion of Moorthy and the subsequent snatching of his body from his family and the unprofessional conduct of the Syariah Court and later the High Court illustrate very vividly how state agencies in the hands of Malay/Muslims have become tools of suppression of non-Malay or non-Muslim rights. Beyond this, the growing perception among Malays that Malaysia is an Islamic state has served to fuel intolerance towards non-Malays and their religious and cultural practices. Over the last two decades or so, hundreds of non-Muslim places of workshop have been removed or demolished in the name of development while permission to construct non-Muslim places of worship have been denied by overzealous Muslims in the relevant bureaucracies. While mosques and suraus are allowed to flourish, the same is not true for non-Muslim places of worship.
Read it all.