French-Irish teen's family to challenge Malaysian inquest ruling

KUALA LUMPUR: The family of a French-Irish teenager will challenge an inquest ruling that she died by misadventure after vanishing in the Malaysian jungle while on holiday, their lawyer said Thursday.

The body of Nora Quoirin, a 15-year-old with learning difficulties, was discovered after a massive hunt through the rainforest following her disappearance from a resort outside Kuala Lumpur in 2019.

Earlier this month, a coroner handed down a ruling of misadventure, indicating her death was accidental rather than a crime, and said no one else was involved.

But her London-based parents, who believe the schoolgirl was abducted, now plan to file a request for the ruling to be revised in the High Court, lawyer S. Sakthyvell told AFP.

He said the challenge would be submitted "as soon as possible" in the court in the city of Seremban but could not confirm when it would begin.

If that fails, the family can lodge a final challenge at the court of appeal.

The teen's mother, Meabh, told the BBC this week that "so many questions have been left unanswered" after the verdict, and she believed someone had placed her daughter's body in the spot where it was found.

The teenager disappeared a day after her family checked in to the Dusun Resort, triggering a 10-day hunt involving hundreds of rescuers, helicopters and sniffer dogs.

Her body was found not far from the resort. Police said there was no sign of foul play while an autopsy concluded she likely died of starvation and internal bleeding.

The coroner suggested she likely wandered out of the family's holiday chalet in the night of her own accord after a long journey from Britain to Malaysia left her disoriented.

But her parents have dismissed this theory.