GEORGE TOWN – Family, friends and politicians involved in the inquest into the sudden death of Aussie national Annapuranee Jenkins have expressed frustration over the open verdict by the coroner’s court over her cause of death.
South Australian lawmaker Frank Pangallo claimed that the inquest was a farce, as the coronial sitting did not cover all bases of the case, such as having disallowed the family counsel to cross-examine the majority of the witnesses summoned.
An open verdict is defined legally as a non-conclusive outcome to the case.
He said that he would appeal to fellow Adelaide resident Penny Wong, who is Adelaide MP and Australian foreign minister, to register a complaint with her Malaysian counterpart.
Pangallo said that he would leave it to the Jenkins family to pursue further legal channels to address their misgivings over the case.
“The inquest was a waste of time for me, as there was no objectivity sought to find the cause of death. For me, a killer is still on the loose.”
Pangallo said that he also plans to write to the Adelaide authorities seeking for a similar coronial inquest to be set up there so that what appeared to have been left out summarily in the Malaysian inquest could be deliberated in a new one in Australia.
Family counsel S. Raveentharan said they have to accept the decision, but he was hoping the coroner would have allowed a reinvestigation into the case due to the gaps and discrepancies uncovered.
“The family may want to seek a revision of the case, but it is up to them to decide.”
Jenkins went missing on December 17, 2017, en route to visit her now deceased mother at the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home in Batu Lanchang.
Her partial skeletal remains were found at a construction site near the Penang Turf Club, not far from where she apparently asked the ride sharing driver to drop her off.
Throughout the inquest, the intriguing case was riddled with allegations of complicity and police negligence.
Jenkins’ son, Steven Greg, said that the family remains dismayed over the outcome, although in some ways, they were expecting it.
“We have yet to find justice in this case.”
Greg plans to discuss with his sister Jennifer on what the family plans to do next.
Australian High Commissioner Justin Lee said that the embassy plans to assist the Jenkins family over the case, and expressed his condolences to the family for their loss. – The Vibes, May 12, 2023
