Verdict expected within a month as Nora inquest draws to a close
Belfast woman’s daughter found dead 10 days after vanishing on Malaysian holiday
A VERDICT in the inquest into the death of Irish-french teenager Nora Quoirin in Malaysia last year is due within a month.
Nora, whose mother is from Belfast, vanished from The Dusun eco-resort in southern Negeri Sembilan state on August 4, a day after she and her family arrived for a two-week holiday.
The teenager’s naked body was found beside a stream on a palm oil estate around two miles away from the jungle retreat 10 days later after a massive hunt involving helicopters, sniffer dogs and hundreds of searchers.
An autopsy later found that the 15-year-old, who had learning difficulties, likely died of internal bleeding linked to starvation after spending about a week in the dense rainforest.
Coroner Maimoonah Aid is due to make a ruling in the case on either December 31 or January 4.
Since August this year a total of 49 witnesses have given evidence over 24 days via video conferencing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the witnesses called to testify were senior pathologists, Nora’s parents Sebastien and Meabh, search-and-rescue personnel, police investigators, members of the public, forensic experts and the resort management.
Police told the inquest the post-mortem showed no signs that Nora was sexually assaulted.
They have also ruled out any criminal activity and said there was no indication that Nora had been abducted.
Investigating officers believe she climbed out of a window on her own. But her parents have said she was likely to have been kidnapped because she would not have wandered off on her own due to her mental and physical disabilities.
In his evidence, a pathologist who performed a second post-mortem on Nora’s body in the UK said he agreed with the Malaysian findings that she died of intestinal bleeding due to starvation and stress.
However, he said he could not rule out sexual assault due to severe decomposition.
The Quoirin family are suing the resort owner for alleged negligence. They say in their lawsuit that there was no security at the resort and that the window had a broken latch and was found ajar the morning Nora disappeared.
Yesterday the final police witness, Inspector Wan Faridah Mustanin, said there was a likelihood that Nora could have been confused with her unfamiliar surroundings and wandered out of the family’s holiday chalet before getting lost in the jungle.
She was earlier asked how she could have concluded the teenager’s disappearance from the resort revealed no indication of criminality.
Affirming there was no foul play involved, Wan Faridah cited the post-mortem report, which concluded Nora’s death to be from internal bleeding brought about by starvation, with no visible signs of sexual or physical assault.
She agreed that there was no concrete evidence that could link her disappearance to abduction, or her own willingness to wander out of the resort.
Wan Faridah said no other evidence apart from DNA analysis, fingerprints and witness statements were collected to assist in the investigation of both theories in relation to Nora’s disappearance.