PETALING JAYA: Teoh Beng Hock's wish may not be realised.

The National Registration Department public relation officer Janisah Mohamed Noor said because Teoh Beng Hock had not registered as husband and wife with his fiancee Soh Cher Wei, the department could not put Beng Hock as the father in his unborn child's birth certificate.

In other words, the father's name in the unborn child's birth certificate may have to be left blank.

Janisah said the authorities had to do things according to the laws and could not create the precedent simply because of Teoh's unique case.

She said so far not a single couple in the country could be given the exemption that a child's father or mother's name on the birth certificate could be filled without the parents producing a legal wedding certificate.

When asked whether Teoh's case could be given special treatment by the authorities, she said no one could be above the laws, something which the minister Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has always emphasised.

She said while she sympathised with Teoh's family, the authorities could only offer a helping hand within the confines of laws. (Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)