Hindu soldier promoted after burial

Moorthy Maniam, a member of Malaysia's Mount Everest expedition in 1997 who died on December 20, 2005, was promoted from Corporal to Sergeant, the government said.

Moorthy, paralysed waist down in 1998 after an accident, was buried with Islamic rites on December 28 by the Islamic Affairs Department.

Malaysia's Islamic Sharia Court ruled last month that Moorthy had converted from Hinduism to Islam in 2004.

Moorthy's widow claims she was never told about the conversion and added that her husband participated in Hindu festivals and continued to eat pork, forbidden by Islam, during the last year. She was told about the conversion by army officials last December when Moorthy was on his death bed after slipping into a coma.