Hindu woman attempts to declare conversion unlawful

Banggarma Subramaniam, who is a Hindu, but recognised as a Muslim in Malaysia, is now seeking a court declaration that the conversion process to Islam that she underwent was unlawful as she was then a child of seven. She argued, rightfully, that she did not and could not have, at that time, understood the contents and meaning of the words in the Declaration to Convert into Islam certificate which she was asked to recite, utter and execute. To reverse her conversion is out of the question, for she would be labelled an apostate, a crime in Shariah court in Malaysia, which meant that she would have to be punished.
I do wonder how Malaysian religious authorities will try to counter this argument. The court’s reluctance to grant Banggarma her wish could be symptomatic of a larger concern. Perhaps they’re worried about opening the floodgates to similar wishes in future, some of which might be as tenable as Banggarma Subramaniam’s case.

Attempt by Hindu woman to reverse conversion in Malaysia

More details of the case of the 27 year-old Malaysian woman have been revealed. Banggarma Subramaniam, also known as Siti Hasnah Vangarama Abdullah is not only trying to prove that she’s not a Muslim, but that she’s never been Muslim, so as not to be charged with apostasy considered an an offense in the state. But since she’s classified as a Muslim, her case is tried a Shariah court, who has apparently chosen to disregard her verbal profession of faith to another religion. According to a conversion certificate in 1989, she supposedly converted when she was a child of seven, which is actually impossible because she had not reached the age of puberty yet at the time.
I do wonder what argument the Shariah court is going to present to counter this. Her lawyer states that under Penang Islamic laws, minors below 18 cannot be converted to Islam without the consent of their parents. Since she was an orphan, it seems that she’s virtually unprotected by a proper guardian or laws. In this way, non-Muslim orphans are therefore susceptible to similar treatment, if the system is left unchecked.
Evidently, she has not even been able to register her marriage to her Hindu husband, or even list him as the father of her two children, as the state doesn’t allow marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims.
I was struck by one line in the article.

“In interfaith disputes involving Islam, the Shariah courts typically get the last word, which has upset non-Muslims who fear they cannot get justice in such courts.”

What is the rationale behind this for people who professed to be non-Muslims?
I find the case fascinating because of the ways the Shariah court in Malaysia could impose its own particular view of religious identity, as the case unfolds.