Student found dead in school hall was top student, tipped for 9As, says classmate

BATU PAHAT: Form Four student Airene Sofiya Mohd Khairol Faisal, 16, was among her school's top students and was seen as a strong candidate to score straight As in next year's Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), said her classmate.

The classmate, who declined to be named, said Irene Sofiya was absent from an extra class yesterday, but her friends initially assumed she was unwell.

"During the extra class yesterday, she was not in class. We thought she was absent because she was not feeling well.

She added a teacher asked about Irene Sofiya, but the students did not know why she was absent.

"I only found out later that Irene Sofiya had not returned home. I did not think anything bad had happened to her," the student said when met.

The student said some female students had suspected something was wrong but did not provide further details.

Later, a teacher contacted the students individually to ask when their extra classes had started and ended after Maghrib.

"I was puzzled and asked the teacher about it. The teacher eventually told us that something 'bad' had happened at the school that day.

"I was shocked and never expected something like this to happen," the student said.

The classmate described Irene Sofiya as a focused student who was also active in school activities.

"She was one of the best students in the school and had the potential to score straight As in the SPM next year.

"She was focused on her studies and active in school activities. That is why we still cannot believe what happened to her.

"We can still picture her face and never imagined we would lose her," the student said.

In the incident at about 5.30pm yesterday, Irene Sofiya was found dead with injuries to her body, believed to have been murdered inside the hall of a secondary school in Yong Peng.

She was found by her grandmother and a friend who went to the school after realising that she had not returned home despite her extra class having ended.

Irene Sofiya was understood to have been living with her grandmother after her mother died of cancer some time ago, while her father works in Kuala Lumpur.

Blood stains were found on her body, along with bruises believed to have been caused by blows.