Yong Peng Murder: Schoolgirls' Staycation Plan Shattered By Tragedy

By Hasnah Jusid

YONG PENG, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- A group of students at a secondary school here had been looking forward to a staycation to celebrate their birthdays together this December, but their plans were shattered after one of them was killed yesterday.

The victim, Form Four student Irene Sofiya Mohd Khairool Faisal, 16, was found unconscious and covered in blood at the school hall yesterday afternoon before she was confirmed dead at the scene.

The victim’s friend, who only wanted to be known as Rina, 16, said they usually had a staycation every December, while also celebrating the birthdays of Irene Sofiya and two other friends in the group.

“Every year, we would have a staycation. We were planning one this year too, after the exams, and she was very excited because we were going to do our makeup, get ready together and celebrate our birthdays,” she told Bernama when met at the victim’s family home here.

Besides the staycation, they also planned to go out together to a popular local coffee chain as a “self-reward” after completing their examinations.

However, Rina never imagined that she would be among those to find Irene Sofiya covered in blood after becoming concerned when she noticed that her friend had not attended an extra class, even though her motorcycle was still parked on the school grounds.

Prior to that, she had tried calling Irene Sofiya three times but received no answer, before going to the victim’s grandmother’s house to check whether her friend had already gone home.

After finding that Irene Sofiya was not at the house, she returned to the school and asked several other friends to help look for her.

“Then I saw that the school hall door was open, even though the door is always closed, so I became uneasy and asked two other friends to look inside the hall,” she said, adding that she saw her friend’s legs from a distance near the bottom of the stage.

“At first, we saw her legs from a distance. Then we went closer and immediately screamed for the security guard and teacher,” she said.

Rina described Irene Sofiya as an intelligent, gentle and quiet student who was well-liked by her friends.

Another friend of the victim, who wanted to be known as Syiha, said Irene Sofiya had a soft voice, smiled easily, was active in Puteri Islam and was often entrusted to serve as event hosts at school.

Earlier, a 16-year-old male student from the same school was detained to assist in the investigation into Irene Sofiya’s death and subsequently remanded for six days from today for investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

Johor Police Chief Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said the suspect was arrested at about 7 pm yesterday in the Yong Peng area, about an hour after police received information from a member of the public at about 5.50 pm about a teenage girl found unconscious and covered in blood at the school hall.

-- BERNAMA