Cause of Riot

The fact that Che Aminah did'nt get custody over Maria was not as aggrevating compared to what they came across an article in the newspaper. The constant battle attracted the media's attention and they followed the family closely. When Maria's natural and adoptive parents were fighting for custody over her, she was sent to a Catholic home. Newspapers wanted to get the best coverage of the story in English, Malay and Tamil and entered the convent to take pictures of Maria. On one such occasion, they took a picture of Maria praying to the virgin Mary. This angered the Muslims more as they felt that the British did not repect them and thus they put her in a convent. As Che Aminah appealed a second time to gain custody over Maria, large crowds gathered outside the High Court for the verdict on 11 December 1950. However, the judge rejected the appeal within five minutes. The Muslims were left feeling betrayed my the British as they felt that they were supporting the Dutch. This bulit in frustration caused Che Aminah's suppoters to riot against the British. This lasted for three consecutive days before it was finally brought to order.