‘The darkest day of my life’: Mum of 16-year-old stabbing victim mourns daughter after classmate’s acquittal

KUALA LUMPUR: On Monday (Sep 14), the teenage boy who stabbed and killed one of his female classmates, 16-year-old Yap Shing Xuen, in a school bathroom on Oc 14, 2025, was acquitted of murder.

The High Court found that the boy, who was 15 years old at the time, was of unsound mind when the incident occurred. Under Malaysian law, he has not been named as he is still a minor.

A psychiatrist testified that the boy had suffered from mental illness and had experienced delusions since the age of nine, and this condition got worse during the COVID-19 pandemic and his subsequent return to school.

According to his legal team, he will need to be on medication for the rest of his life. While he has been acquitted of murder, the judge ordered the boy to remain in hospital for psychiatric treatment, and he will be assessed before being allowed to return to society.

A mother’s plea

After the verdict from the High Court was announced, Shing Xuen’s mother, Wong Lee Ping, wrote a heartbroken Facebook post with the heading “the story of me and my daughter.”

Ms Wong, a single mother of two girls, wrote about the different activities she did with her daughter, whom she described as brave, sensible, hardworking, thoughtful, and helpful with household chores.

“To me, this child is truly perfect,” she wrote, adding that Shing Xuen had once told her, “Mommy, when I grow up, I will take care of you.”

The heartbroken mother called October 14, 2025, “the darkest and most unacceptable day of my life. 

I always thought that as long as I worked a little harder, and worked a little harder, my child would grow up safely.

I thought there was still a lot of time in the future.

I thought you would grow up.

Finish your studies.

Find a job you like.

Achieve your dreams.”

Ms Wong also wrote about how she felt that her life lost its direction after Shing Xuen died, and how “the most important place” in her heart always feels empty. She still cries when she thinks about her daughter.

At the end of her post, she addressed Shing Xuen, telling her how much she missed her.

“May you be in another world, free from pain and injustice… And Mom will carry the love I gave you,  and continue moving forward. You will always be my daughter.”

In another post, Ms Wong wrote that she would continue to seek justice for her, and the following day, she shared a petition urging Malaysia’s Attorney General to appeal the High Court verdict.

And while she has said that she respects the court and the judicial procedure, she is urging others in Malaysia to sign the petition “for Shing Xuen, and for every child who deserves to come home safely.” /TISG

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