KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court on Wednesday (Jun 16) overturned an inquest verdict of "misadventure" in the death of a French-Irish teen who vanished in the jungle, replacing it with an "open" ruling in a victory for her family.
The initial verdict indicated that the death was accidental, but the new ruling suggests that there are still questions to be answered in the case and leaves open the possibility of criminal involvement.
The body of Nora Quoirin, a 15-year-old with learning difficulties, was discovered after a huge hunt through the rainforest following her disappearance from a resort outside Kuala Lumpur in 2019.
In January, a coroner handed down the misadventure ruling and said that no one else was involved.
But her London-based parents, who have dismissed authorities' claims that their daughter wandered into the jungle alone at night and believe she was abducted, said they were "utterly disappointed".
They lodged a challenge, seeking to have the ruling revised to an open verdict.
Judge Azizul Azmi Adnan ruled in their favour on Wednesday, telling the Seremban High Court that "in the interests of justice" the misadventure verdict should be overturned and substituted with an open ruling.
"There was no credible evidence to support any other verdict," he added.
READ: French-Irish teen's Malaysia death ruled 'misadventure'
READ: Family to challenge Malaysian inquest ruling on French-Irish teen's death
MASSIVE HUNT
Malaysian police have stuck to their version of events - that the teenager clambered out of a window of the family's holiday chalet and wandered off, and insist there was no sign of foul play.
But her mother, Meabh, has said she believes that someone could have placed her body in the spot where it was found, in a stream in the jungle not far from the resort.
The teenager disappeared a day after her family checked into the Dusun Resort, triggering a 10-day hunt involving helicopters, sniffer dogs and hundreds of rescuers.
An autopsy concluded that she likely died of starvation and internal bleeding.
The coroner said that the teenager had been left disoriented by the long journey from Britain to Malaysia, likely leading her to wander off, and that there was no sign that she was murdered or sexually assaulted.
But during the inquest, the teen's parents said they heard mysterious "muffled noises" coming from the accommodation the night of the schoolgirl's disappearance, fuelling their belief that she was snatched.
They also criticised authorities for their response to their daughter's disappearance as too slow. Police have insisted that they conducted a comprehensive search.
The 5ha resort is next to a patch of thick jungle and in the foothills of a mountain range.
The teen had a condition known as holoprosencephaly, where the brain fails to develop normally. She had limited verbal communication and could only write a few words.
She attended a school for young people with learning difficulties.
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2021-06-16 10:22:41Z
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