The Daily Telegraph - 16.08.2019

The Daily Telegraph Friday 16 August 2019 *** 13

Nora’s family do not accept autopsy ruling out foul play

By David Chazan in Paris, and
Nicola Smith, Asia correspondent

THE family of the London teenager
whose body was found in a Malaysian
jungle on Tuesday have urged the po-
lice to continue to investigate the case

as a possible crime after foul play was

ruled out by an autopsy.

The Malaysian police said yesterday

that a post-mortem examination had

shown that Nora Quoirin, 15, had likely

starved and died of internal bleeding

after being lost for about a week in the

jungle near the Dusun eco-resort.

Nora, who had learning disabilities,

disappeared from her family’s holiday

bungalow on Aug 4 and is believed to

have died two to three days before her

body was found.

However, Charles Morel, the French

lawyer of her Franco-Irish parents,

who believe she may have been ab-

ducted, told The Daily Telegraph that

her family “aren’t ruling anything out”

as they “remain convinced that it is im-

probable that Nora left the bungalow

voluntarily”.

The authorities must explore the

possibility of a “criminal act”, he added.

“We want to make sure not only that

this [criminal] hypothesis is not ruled

out, but that [the investigators] work

on it... taking into account the impor-

tance of tourism in Malaysia and its im-

age, the authorities may tend to

prioritise the thesis that she left [volun-

tarily] over the criminal hypothesis.”

Compounding the family’s doubts is

the difficult terrain that Nora would

have had to cross to reach the spot

where she was found, in a sleeping po-

sition in a stream in a ravine about

1.5 miles from the resort in Seremban, 39

miles from the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Nora was born with holoprosen-

cephaly, a neurological disorder, which

limited her speech and co-ordination.

Yesterday, state police chief Mo-

hamad Mat Yusop said that the autopsy,

which was conducted on Wednesday

in the presence of foreign officials, had

concluded that the teenager suffered

“bleeding in her intestines due to not

eating” as well as “extreme stress”.

“For the time being, there is no sus-

picion of foul play,” he said. He added

that there were “some scratches on her

body” after days in the rainforest, but

nothing suspicious.

However, earlier this week, the Paris

prosecutor’s office said it had opened a

criminal investigation into Nora’s death,

which is normal practice for French

prosecutors who regularly investigate

cases involving French citizens abroad.

In a statement on Wednesday by The

Lucie Blackman Trust, a charity that

supports family members of British

people missing overseas, relatives said

Nora was the heart of the family.

“She is the truest, most precious girl

and we love her infinitely. The cruelty

of her being taken away is unbearable.

Our hearts are broken.”

Additional reporting by

Selva Mariappen

Crash landing

Russia hailed as a

hero a pilot who

safely landed an

Airbus A321,

carrying more than

200 passengers, in

a cornfield outside

Moscow yesterday

after its engines

were damaged by a

flock of birds. The

incident drew

comparisons with

the 2009 landing of

an aircraft on New

York’s Hudson

River. Authorities

said 23 people were

injured during the

landing by Damir

Yusupov, which he

managed with the

landing gear down

and engines off.

Sources claimed

the birds were near

an illegal rubbish

dump. REUTERS

Teenager’s parents still

suspect abduction and

urge Malaysian police to

investigate ‘criminal act’

Germany’s male choirs face the music as girl, 9, sues for sex discrimination

By Justin Huggler in Berlin

GERMANY’S traditional all-male ca-
thedral choirs could be a thing of the
past if a nine-year-old girl wins her
gender discrimination case today.
A centuries-old Berlin choir is being
sued for discrimination after it rejected
the child’s applications to join the elite

group of young men and boys in 2016

and 2018.

Lawyers for her family allege she

was told in writing by the dean of the

university’s music faculty last Decem-

ber that “a girl will never sing in a boys’

choir”.

They also argue that as the choir re-

ceives public funding her rejection

contravenes German equal opportu-

nity laws.

Founded in 1465 by Frederick II of

Brandenburg, the Berlin State and Ca-

thedral Choir is one of the most famous

in Germany. Over its 554-year history it

has never admitted any girls.

It is part of Berlin’s publicly funded

University of the Arts and provides

training to 250 choirboys and 75 young

men under the age of 25.

However, the choir insists the girl’s

rejection was “not predominantly

about her gender”. Its lawyers main-

tain that she would have been asked to

join if she had displayed extraordinary

talent and motivation and “if her voice

had matched the desired sound charac-

teristics of a boys choir”. The case has

rekindled debate over the view that the

voices of preadolescent boys have a

“purity” girls cannot match.

The case comes after Lesley Garrett,

the British soprano, described all-male

choirs as a “throwback to a bygone era”

and called for King’s College, Cam-

bridge, to accept female choristers.

World news

Uber scraps £165,

staff balloon celebrations

Uber has dropped a scheme in which it

spent more than $200,000 (£165,000)

a year on balloons for its employees.

The company bought balloons for all

employees in its San Francisco office

to celebrate their “Uber-versary,” the

anniversary of their joining date.

Nelson Chai, the chief financial

officer, said that the firm would now

give employees stickers instead as they

are cheaper and more environmentally

friendly.

WORLD BULLETIN

Syrian forces close in on

jihadist-held Idlib town

Syrian regime forces have captured

insurgent-held villages in north-west

Syria, inching closer to a key jihadist-

held town in the Idlib region,

controlled by Syria’s former al-Qaeda

affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Yesterday, regime loyalists stood

just 1.8 miles (3km) away from the key

town of Khan Sheikhun, after

capturing five villages to the north-

west overnight, the Syrian

Observatory for Human Rights said.

Troops and civilians die

in Kashmir border clash

Three Pakistani soldiers and two

civilians have died in clashes with India

over the disputed frontier in Kashmir.

Pakistan said India opened fire at

the fortified line of control, killing the

soldiers and civilians.

Imran Khan, the prime minister of

Pakistan, warned of ethnic cleansing

of Muslims after India revoked

Kashmir’s autonomy 11 days ago.

Narendra Modi, India’s prime

minister, said that Kashmir’s “special

status” had “encouraged corruption

and nepotism, and created injustices.”

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