KUALA LUMPUR – Several individuals, including Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, have expressed dissatisfaction over the findings of the inquest on the death of 15-year-old French-Irish girl Nora Anne Quoirin.
The MP said she was “extremely disappointed” with the death by “misadventure” verdict handed by the Seremban coroner’s court yesterday.
“Based on the facts, it seems most untenable to conclude that no one is responsible for the death of the teenager,” she told The Vibes.
“I wish to reiterate that the coroner had missed a golden opportunity to pursue the stark and undisputed material angle of parental negligence.
“Why was this obvious, manifestly crying out and gaping question ruled out completely and deliberately not pursued as a matter of course by the coroner?”
After looking at previous reports on the case, Kok said she found many “glaring” and “obvious” contradictions and “inexplicable circumstances” adduced by the teenager’s parents if tested against the evidence of the police and other witnesses.
Based on a Malay Mail report on August 26, Kok said Nora Anne’s parents had always claimed that the teen could not walk unaided and for not more than 20 feet.
“But this statement contradicts the video clip evidence of the CCTV camera recording at KLIA, which showed unequivocally that Nora Anne even lugged her own luggage, and walked unaided for a distance, far more than 20 feet.
“She did not show any sign of walking difficulties. The statement of the parents in the inquest seems contradictory to the statement of the police in the coroner’s court. The question is, who told the truth?”
Kok said another statement from Nora Anne’s parents misled police in their initial search operations.
She said that according to the news report of the coroner’s court proceedings, Nilai police chief Mohd Nor Marzukee said police significantly expanded the search area from between four and six sq km previously to a 20 sq km radius towards the nearby Gunung Berembun only on the eighth day of her disappearance – after the police watched the CCTV footage of Nora Anne walking unaided for some distance in KLIA.
“The question now is why did the parents lie to the police? If at all, the parents did not tell the truth to the police right from day one. Hence, one can only draw the logical conclusion that the police had been misled from day one, which has clearly jeopardised police investigations and search strategies,” Kok said.
“On top of that, it seems incredible for a timid girl with learning difficulties to wander from the villa alone, probably naked and with no shoes, into the jungle, which is alien territory for her.
“With the above glaring inconsistencies and contradictions, I am most disappointed with the ‘misadventure’ verdict delivered by the coroner.
“There are clearly more questions than answers. I therefore strongly urge the police to reinvestigate this most unfortunate incident of poor Nora Anne from all angles,” she said.
Nora Anne went missing at a forest area in Dusun Resort on August 4, 2019, and her naked body was discovered by search-and-rescue teams on August 13 near a creek at a ravine, some 2.5 km from the resort where her family was staying.
The Vibes education editor Dharshini Ganeson, who is mother to a 30-year-old special needs daughter, raised numerous questions regarding the case.
She said given Nora Anne’s condition, it was highly unlikely that the teenager would have wandered off alone into a forest as she was highly dependent on her guardians.
“How can a special needs child move down into a ravine and what happened to her clothes?”
Dharshini raised the question as to whether any attempt had been made to trace her clothes or whether it just went “missing”.
“Special needs children rarely take their clothes off as they feel cold and exposed. It’s very highly unlikely Nora Anne did that to herself.”
According to a Bernama report on December 7, Dr Hanif Mahmud of Tuanku Ja’afar Seremban Hospital (HJTS), one of two forensic pathologist experts who testify in the coroner’s court, said he believed Nora Anne’s injuries “were consistent with the surrounding conditions where the body was found”.
Dharshini said the nature of Nora Anne’s injuries would have been extensive had she gone down a ravine.
“There would have been cuts and very bad lacerations to her face and body.”
She added that someone known to her would have needed to “handle her to walk all the way to the ravine” as she would not follow a stranger.
Meanwhile, James Nayagam, chairman of the Suriana Welfare Society, echoed Kok's sentiment, although he said he respects the court’s decision.
“Firstly, I must appreciate the excellence of our police force, trackers, and the Orang Asli community for their tireless, hard work in tracking the girl. I am proud of the Malaysian team for the efficient and swift manner in responding to the case.
“Ever since the case was highlighted, I have been following the developments and made several appeals for a second post-mortem to be carried out, but I was shocked at the swift and hasty manner by which the body was cremated.”
Among his observations on the case, James said the child was a minor, 15 years of age, who suffered from learning difficulties. Previous reports said Nora Anne suffered from a rare condition called holoprosencephaly, which affects the normal growth of the human brain in infancy.
James said the forest area where her parents decided to have a holiday could have been unsuitable for a child in her condition.
“In this case, it turns out to be a perfect place for the child to be supposedly lost and (for her) body (to be) found naked.
“Could negligence be a cause in terms of poor supervision? I have no choice but to have numerous suspicions on various persons and form various theories one of which could be possible murder,” he told The Vibes.
James said that the saddest thought would be to know that someone had taken advantage of a young innocent disabled child, and brutally and intentionally murdered her.
“The matter cannot rest, but must be advocated beyond the grave to address unanswered questions, without rest until justice is not only done but seen to be done.” – The Vibes, January 5, 2021
