The mother of an Irish teenager whose body was found in a Malaysian jungle said on Wednesday she believed her daughter could have been abducted and questioned official findings that no foul play was involved in her death.
Nora Quoirin, 15, who suffered from learning difficulties, went missing in August last year from a rainforest resort in Seremban, about 70 km south of the Malaysian capital, a day after her family arrived on holiday.Her naked body was found 10 days later near a jungle stream in a deep ravine near the Dusun resort where the family stayed.
Police had ruled out abduction as a motive, saying they had found no sign of foul play.
Speaking at a Malaysian inquest into the death, Meabh Quoirin said her daughter could not have wandered off on her own as she had a brain condition that affected her balance and coordination.
"She would often fall or stumble if she was walking in areas that were not flat or straight," Quoirin told the Seremban Coroner's Court via video conference.
Quoirin questioned why her daughter's body was found without many injuries, even though the teenager was believed to have been walking alone in rough jungle terrain for days.
"Why does the state of her body not reflect someone who was constantly moving and constantly exposed to the harshest elements?" Quoirin said.
She said she believed that her daughter was kidnapped, though she did not know how or for what reason.
Authorities had said an autopsy established that the girl had died from internal bleeding, probably caused by prolonged hunger and stress.
The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy found some small scratches on the her legs but ruled that they would not have contributed to her death, police said.
