By Vivien Chan

A HOT head, a rude mouth, a vengeful heart. And she is only 16.

What went wrong along the way to turn one so young into such a vicious terror that she would instigate a man to rape a 13-year-old just because the girl had said something bad about her?

Her helpless foster family has been asking the same question.

But, piece together her young life so far, and a sad picture emerges.

Both her parents are in jail. Her mother left her in foster care when she was a baby. Her foster parents are divorced.

There is little love in her life.

Nor Azura Omar, 16, had arranged for the man to rape the girl to rob her of her virginity. When he could not do the deed, she made the girl perform oral sex on him instead.

Last Friday, the teen terror was sentenced to reformative training, which will last between 18 months and three years, depending on her behaviour.

Her foster sister, Ms Aisha, however, is not hopeful that Nor Azura will change.

Given up

'We were shocked to learn about what she had done. But then again, she's been like that for very long. We have already given up on her.'

Ms Aisha, 30, a housewife, asked that we do not use her family's real name because they are embarrassed to be associated with Nor Azura.

When Nor Azura was remanded pending her court case, she called her foster family.

By then, they were used to her getting into trouble and did not ask what she'd got herself into this time. Neither did Nor Azura tell them about what she'd been accused of doing.

Ms Aisha said they only found out about her latest string of offences from the newspapers last month.

She said: 'We were so shocked that she committed a crime like this. I don't understand how she went so far.'

Nor Azura's lawyer, Mr Noor Mohamed Marican, described her as a 'victim of circumstances, as the adults in her life failed to nurture her'.

Both her parents are in jail for drug offences.

Ms Aisha said that her mother, Madam Anita, took in Nor Azura when she was just 18 months old because her parents could not take care of her. It is not clear how the two families got to know each other.

She said that Nor Azura did not have any contact with her parents during her childhood.

All was well, however, until she turned7.

Problem child

Ms Aisha claimed that Nor Azura then began stealing and telling lies.

'I remember taking care of her when she was younger. I would give her $2 to buy sweets. When she returned home, she would have $10 worth of items.

'When I asked her, she would say that the shop uncle gave her the items. But I later found out that she had stolen them.'

By 10, Nor Azura was beyond control, Ms Aisha alleged. So her foster family sent her to live at a welfare home. That same year, her foster parents divorced, but she remained in contact with Madam Anita, 49, who has four adult children.

About two or three years ago, Nor Azura's mother was released from prison and asked to take her daughter back.

Ms Aisha said: 'Nor Azura was happy. She told my mother that her real mother wanted her, and told my mother to go home. My mother was very sad that Azura was leaving her.'

But the mum-and-daughter reunion ended a few weeks later.

Nor Azura's mother complained to Ms Aisha's family that Nor Azura had stolen her handphone and was rude to her.

She was sent back to the welfare home. Her mother was back in jail not long later.

Last April, Ms Aisha said that Nor Azura called them and pleaded with Madam Anita to take her home.

She promised to change. Madam Anita agreed. She took her out of the home and enrolled her in a vocational institute.

But she did not seize the opportunity to change. She frequently played truant and was rude to her teachers, Ms Aisha claimed.

Court documents revealed that she quit school with two friends in April within a few weeks..

The following month, she began staying out late. She would return home only after Madam Anita, a factory operator, left for work in the morning.

The family soon found out that the teenager had been sleeping at their block's staircase landing.

'She would spread cloth on the floor and spend the night with her friends there,' said Ms Aisha.

'We found out only when our neighbours complained to the Town Council.'

Leaving home

Madam Anita scolded Nor Azura but the teenager got upset and allegedly wanted to attack her foster mother.

But she calmed down and left the flat, only to return a few days later, Ms Aisha claimed.

When Madam Anita threatened to send her back to the welfare home, the rebellious teen told her: 'No need to do anything. I want to find my own family.'

With that, she left, and that was the last time they saw her.

Court documents showed that she started working at a fast food outlet in June that year. But she disliked certain duties and would take medical leave whenever she was rostered to do those tasks.

She resigned after three weeks because she wanted to spend more time with her friends.

Later that month, she committed the offences for which she was charged.

Nor Azura was caught when she called the police to tell them that the victim had run away from the Girls' Home and was with her.

After Nor Azura was sentenced on Friday, she asked to make a phone call to her foster family.

She spoke to her foster mother's sister, Madam Siti, whom she was closest to.

Said Madam Siti: 'She told me that she was going in for (at least) 18 months. She told me to write letters to her when I am free.

'I hope she will really change during this time.'

As for Ms Aisha, she said the family has a 'phobia of her' now.

'But if she really comes out a changed person, we are willing to take her back again,' said Ms Aisha.

'My mother is very disappointed with how she turned out, but I think she still loves Azura.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.