KUALA LUMPUR -- The drug addict father and his three-year-old daughter will know today who will have custody of her after a day of drama.

Yesterday, the Welfare Services Department decided that the girl could spend one more night with her father at his sister's home before the issue is settled in court.

At one stage, the girl seemed to be heading for a welfare home but the timely intervention of her aunt and other relatives convinced the officers that more thought was needed over the matter.

Federal Territory National Drug Agency director Hamzah Abas, in explaining the decision to let the two go home temporarily, said: "All of you and everyone else want a happy ending. We want the best for the girl and we sympathise with her."

He said the Welfare Department would propose to the court today either to place the child under its care, hand her over to her aunt or to the Shelter Home.

The 36-year-old addict, who lets his child tag along while he gets his "fix," had wanted to surrender her to the Shelter Home yesterday.

The drama began when the man arranged to hand over his daughter to Shelter Home staff at a coffeeshop in Jalan Ipoh. However, two plainclothes policemen were also waiting outside the coffeeshop for him.

The father and child appeared at 1.30pm and the police personnel quickly approached them. They were then taken to the city police headquarters with four Shelter Home staff in tow.

At the Narcotics Department, the home's chairman James Nayagam explained to the police that the man voluntarily wanted to undergo rehabilitation.

City narcotics chief Asst Comm Ayob Mohamed said it was therefore not a police case and the man was referred to the National Drug Agency. "As he has volunteered to go for rehabilitation, we have no reason to arrest or detain him but will facilitate his rehabilitation under the agency" he said.

Nayagam said the home wanted custody of the child and sponsor the man to a private rehabilitation centre so that the two would remain in contact instead of being separated.

However, at the agency office, welfare officers said the child would have to be taken from her father before the department applied for a court order for custody today.

The man, however, insisted that she be sent to the Shelter Home but the officers said they had the right over her under the Child Protection Act.

As the welfare officers were about to drive away with the child, the man's sister and unidentified relatives stopped them at the car park. They urged the officers to hand over the child and even called up the state welfare director.

The group had another discussion with Hamzah and came to an amicable solution--to allow the child to go home for the day with her father. 

As for the addict, he would have to report to the agency today and decide whether he wants to undergo rehabilitation at the government's centre in Cheras or at the private centre, Hamzah said. "He can also request for a court order for his sister to have custody or allow her to stay at the Welfare Department's home," he added.

Asked why he was willing to surrender his daughter, the man said: "It's good to have a fresh start. It is for the best. I will miss her but I want her to have a good future. She will be my will to change."

The saga of the father and child first came to light on Monday when it was reported that the man was so attached to his daughter that he even took her along to a drug addict den in Jalan Ipoh.