The riots took place between 11 and 13 December 1950 in Singapore, after a court decided that Maria should be taken from her Malay Muslim foster and adoptive mother's custody and given over to her Dutch Catholic biological parents.

A protest by outraged Muslims escalated when images of her were published showing her kneeling before a statue of the Virgin Mary and Saint Blaise.

Three days later, Maria went to stay with Che Aminah binte Mohammad, a 42-year-old Malay woman from Kemaman, Terengganu, Malaya (now Malaysia) who was a close friend of Nor Louise.

According to Adeline Hertogh, in testimony given in evidence before the court at the hearing in November 1950, she was persuaded by her mother after the birth of her sixth child to allow Maria to go and stay with Aminah in Bandung for three or four days.

Investigations were then made by the Red Cross Society, the Royal Netherlands Army, the Indonesian Repatriation Service, and local police.

The Consulate then applied to the High Court of Singapore on 22 April for Maria to be delivered into the custody of the Social Welfare Department, pending further order.

[citation needed] Maria stayed at the convent for two more months under a further order from the Chief Justice pending appeal, which was filed on 28 July.

[citation needed] On 1 August 1950, Maria was married by way of a nikah gantung (to be consummated when both parties were of age, valid under Islamic law) to 21-year-old Mansoor Adabi, a Kelantan-born teacher-in-training at the Bukit Panjang Government School.

On 26 August, an originating summons was taken out, under the Guardianship of Infants Ordinance, by the Hertoghs as plaintiffs against Aminah, Maria and Mansoor, who were all made defendants.

His judgment stated inter alia: Having over-ruled the purported marriage, Justice Brown went on to deal with what he described as the "most difficult" question of custody.

On 5 December, the Singapore Tiger Standard published on its front page a photograph of Maria standing holding hands with the Reverend Mother.

The Muslims, who looked upon Maria as one of their own, were deeply offended by such pictures, not to mention the sensational reports, some of which explicitly labelled the case as a religious issue between Islam and Christianity.

On 9 December, an organisation calling itself the Nadra Action Committee was formally constituted under the leadership of Karim Ghani, a Muslim political activist from Rangoon.

Karim Ghani had also made an open speech at the Sultan Mosque on 8 December in which he mentioned jihad as a final resort.

In the light of the mounting backlash, the Criminal Investigation Department sent a memo to the Colonial Secretary suggesting moving Maria back to York Hill to avoid further inciting Muslim anger.

The Secretary did not agree on grounds that he had received no such representations from Muslim leaders, nor did he have the authority to remove Maria without further court orders.

Since early morning, crowds carrying banners and flags with star and crescent symbols began to gather around the Supreme Court.

One of the many complaints is the rumor that the Quran, the praying carpet, and the Malay dresses sent by Aminah did not reach Maria.After the riot, the police set up a special investigation unit that detained 778 people, among them Karim Ghani.

The Gurkha Contingent standing by was not put into action, while too much dependence was placed on Malay policemen, many of whom defected or at least hesitated to carry out their duties.

She demanded rice with every meal, resenting the western diet, and continued to perform her Muslim prayers five times a day.

In addition, a policeman in plain clothes was assigned to escort her whenever she left the house, for fear of possible kidnappers who might take her back to Singapore, following reported sighting of "oriental strangers" around town.

Back in Singapore, Aminah and Mansoor had apparently given up hope of retrieving Maria after leave to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council was not granted.

Both expressed a wish for Maria to travel to Malaya to visit the aged Aminah, but such a trip was never made due primarily to financial difficulties.

She admitted in court that she had been thinking about leaving her husband but was afraid to start divorce proceedings in case she lost custody of her children.

[8][11] Lacking employment authorisation from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Maria could only work ill-paid odd jobs such as a babysitter or a chambermaid.

[8] In March 1989, Malaysian journalist Fatini Yaacob, along with two of Maria's children, flew to Lake Tahoe to interview her for the Dewan Masyarakat.

Yaacob informed her that the Terengganu State Government, under the leadership of Tan Sri Wan Mokhtar Ahmad, had offered her a parcel of land in Kemaman District if she wished to return home to Malaysia.

[8] However, on 29 January 1998, Maria did return to Kemaman for Hari Raya and reunited with Kamariah, as well as paying her respects to Che Aminah's grave.

[12][13] Maria's son and two daughters spoke about witnessing their mother's frosty relationship with Adeline, and her struggle to come to terms with her painful childhood.

Rokayah Yusof (Kamariah's daughter and therefore Maria's adoptive niece) stated that during the 1998 visit, Maria still spoke Malay fluently and that she'd missed all the traditional Malay snacks when she celebrated Hari Raya together with Kamariah, whom Che Aminah adopted in Tokyo where she lived with her lecturer husband before Aminah returned to Malaya.