The family of church-going teenager Nora Quoirin, who was found dead after she disappeared from a Malaysian resort last year, is suing the hotel's owner for alleged negligence.
Quoirin, who had special needs, went missing from the room she shared with her siblings at night in August 2019.
Her body was found by a stream over a mile away from her accommodation after a 10-day search around the Malaysian jungle resort of Dusun, near Kuala Lumpur.
A preliminary post-mortem investigation revealed starvation and stress had caused fatal intestinal bleeding.
Authorities previously ruled out abduction or rape as a motive but her parents Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin have raised concerns over the handling of the inquiry.
They are now requesting that the government holds a public inquest to determine the events that lead to her death as they strongly believe Nora's disabilities made it unlikely she wandered off on her own.
The lawsuit alleges that a cottage window was found ajar, with its latch broken, on the morning she disappeared, while the resort's main gate was left open at all times without any security or camera surveillance, apart from at the reception area.
Speaking outside court following a procedural session on the case, the family's lawyer Sankara Nair said: "The place was not safe for the child - because of the negligence, anybody could have come in and taken the child."
The Quiorins are seeking over 180,000 ringgit (£34,000) in losses, bereavement costs and damages for pain and suffering from resort owner Helen Marion Todd.
