Nora Anne's inquest postponed, witness a close contact of COVID-19 patient

SEREMBAN: The inquest proceeding to determine the actual cause of death of Irish-French teenager Nora Anne Quoirin at the Coroner’s Court here has to be postponed after a witness was found to be in close contact with a COVID-19 patient.

The lawyer representing the girl’s family, S. Sakthyvell, when met by reporters outside the court, said the application for the postponement was made by the team handling the inquest today.

However, he said, the proceeding would proceed tomorrow with the witness to testify through the Zoom application.

"I was only informed about the matter at 5.30 am today by the court’s assistant registrar. I was also informed that the witness is under quarantine and has done the swab test and was awaiting the result,” he added.

When the inquest proceeding resumes tomorrow, three witnesses from the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) will testify through the Zoom application.

So far, 19 witnesses had testified before Coroner Maimoonah Aid.

Nora Anne, 15, went missing on Aug 4 last year, a day after she and her family arrived in Malaysia for a two-week holiday at a resort in Pantai here, about 60 km south of Kuala Lumpur.

Her body was found on Aug 13 near a stream about 2.5 km from the resort following a massive search conducted by the authorities.

A preliminary post-mortem report revealed there were no criminal elements in Nora Anne’s death and that the teenager had died of gastrointestinal bleeding, due to prolonged stress and hunger.

-- BERNAMA