Father of girl, 16, allegedly murdered in Johor school hopes justice will be served

The father of the 16-year-old girl found dead in her school in Yong Peng, Johor, on Oct. 3 said he hopes justice will be served for his daughter.

Mohd Khairool Faisal Khyar, 42, spoke to Malaysian media after her burial at the Kampung Arshad Muslim Cemetery on Oct. 4, Malay Mail reported.

The teenager was laid to rest following a post-mortem at a hospital.

More than 100 people, including family, friends, teachers, and members of the public gathered at the cemetery to pay their respects, according to Bernama.

"We are grateful to everyone who came and we hope justice can be served for my late daughter," Khairool said.

Allegedly murdered

Irene Sofiya Mohd Khairool Faisal was found covered in blood in the school hall before she was pronounced dead at the scene.

She had several injuries on her head and body.

Irene had extra classes that Saturday, Oct. 3.

Her 66-year-old grandmother, along with Irene's aunt, began searching for her around 5:30pm when two of Irene's schoolmates went to her house asking about her whereabouts.

The friends had noticed that Irene's motorcycle was still parked at the school, but she was nowhere to be found, sparking concern, The Star reported.

One of the friends first discovered Irene in the school hall.

"I heard her friend scream for me to hurry over because there was so much blood," the grandmother said.

She recalled that her granddaughter was critically injured and bleeding heavily. She responded weakly when her grandmother called her name.

"She looked at my face one last time before her body went limp and she stopped moving."

The police arrested three boys, who are Irene's classmates, that same day, and are investigating the case for murder.

One of them will be remanded for six days until Oct. 9 to assist in the investigation.

Looked cheerful and happy

The last time Khairool saw his daughter, whom he called Fiya, was about two weeks before the incident.

He had noticed no changes in her behaviour.

"In fact, Fiya looked cheerful and was happy to be studying," he said, as quoted by Malay Mail.

He learnt about her death from his eldest sister, at about 6pm on Oct. 3.

He rushed from Bangi, Selangor, where he was working, to their village in Johor to find out what happened.

At the burial, he also urged the public not to speculate about the incident.

No CCTV at the scene

Malaysia's education minister, Fadhlina Sidek, said there were no CCTV cameras where the incident happened.

"The school has CCTV, but it was not installed at the scene of the crime," she told reporters at Parliament on Oct. 5, as quoted by The Star.

She added that the education ministry will take immediate action to improve this.

The security company engaged by the school could also lose its contract if patrol records show it failed in its duties that day, she added.

The Johor Education and Information Committee chairman Muhammad Naqib Md Ghazali also pledged that the Johor state government, the police, and the education ministry will work together to strengthen security measures at schools.

He highlighted installing CCTV cameras as an "initial step" to monitor the situation if a tragedy occurs, The New Straits Times reported.

"Schools should be safe places, and everyone has a responsibility to look at this matter comprehensively instead of pointing fingers at one another," he said.

Additionally, the Johor Education Department will reach out to Irene's family, teachers, and friends to provide psychological support.

According to Naqib, some of them have been traumatised by the incident.

The district education office and school principal have met affected teachers and students for counselling sessions, he said.