A witness told the coroner’s court in Kota Kinabalu today that she had taken Zara Qairina Mahathir to another room to allow a spot check of the 13-year-old’s wardrobe and belongings on the night of July 15.
Lawyer Syarulnizam Salleh, representing Zara’s mother, said the 29th witness told the court that several dormitory students had decided to carry out a surprise inspection following reports of missing money, flag pins and clothes.
He said the witness left Zara in the room with junior students and told them to keep Zara occupied so the spot check could proceed without her knowledge.
“The witness said when she checked Zara’s bag, she found a flag pin belonging to a senior student and another pin belonging to a junior student in Zara’s trouser pocket.
“The witness then handed the flag pin to the senior student,” Bernama quoted the lawyer as saying.
After the spot check, the witness went to another room, saw senior students gathered around Zara but did not intervene and went downstairs to iron her clothes.
Upon returning, she found Zara in her room crying and shouting, “Aku nda curi ba” (I did not steal).
“The witness said that no one, including herself, dared to comfort Zara as they were afraid to approach her when she was upset,” Syarulnizam said.
“The witness also said that she had never seen Zara being physically bullied but admitted that some senior and junior students had ridiculed or mocked her.”
Zara, 13, was found unconscious in a drain near her school’s hostel at 4am on July 16. She died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 17 and was buried at the Tanjung Ubi Muslim cemetery in Sipitang the same day.
On Aug 8, the Attorney-General’s Chambers ordered her remains to be exhumed for a post-mortem, before announcing an inquest into her death on Aug 13.
The inquest continues.
