Her parents planned to accompany her to court to answer shoplifting charges
By
Debbie Yong
The bodies of 15-year-old Mernel Koh and close friend Eddy Affendi, 22, were found near Block 127 in Bukit Batok West Avenue 6 last Tuesday, a few blocks from the Kohs' home. After Mernel's death, her parents found a text message on her phone sent by a friend which speculated on a possible sentence in a girls' home. -- ST PHOTO: TERENCE TAN PHOTO: COURTESY OF KOH FAMILY
EVEN the toughest and most rebellious teen may buckle internally once he is charged in court over an offence, say youth counsellors.
'When the law catches up with them, reality hits and their adventure quickly turns into a nightmare,' said Mr Glenn Lim, a rehabilitation ambassador for the Yellow Ribbon Project, an initiative to integrate ex-offenders back into society.
The death of 15-year-old Mernel Koh, last Tuesday, may have been linked to the fact that she was due to appear in court to answer charges of shoplifting.
Her body and that of a 22-year-old man were found on the ground near Block 127 in Bukit Batok West Avenue 6.
Her parents had planned to accompany her to the Juvenile Court last Tuesday. But she did not return home last Monday night and skipped court the next morning.
At noon, after two hours of searching, her parents received a call informing them that she was dead.
