A forensic medical officer told the coroner’s court today that the investigating officer in Zara Qairina Mahathir’s case did not issue a post-mortem order to determine the cause of the 13-year-old’s death.
In a Bernama report, Dr Logaraj Ratha also said Zara’s mother, Noraidah Lamat, repeatedly refused to agree to a post-mortem on her daughter’s body, despite being briefed on the importance of such a procedure.
Zara died on July 17 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she was admitted a day after being found unconscious near a drain at her school’s hostel in Papar, Sabah.
Recounting the events of July 17, Logaraj said he was informed of a death in the hospital’s neurosurgery ward involving an active police investigation, and that the body was to be transferred to the mortuary.
Logaraj said he received a release form from inspector Wong Yew Zhung authorising the handover of Zara’s body to Noraidah without a post-mortem.
“He told me he had been informed that Zara’s cause of death was severe traumatic brain injury with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy,” said Logaraj.
“He added that he would consult his superiors before giving further information.
“Later, he informed me that the police would not be issuing the POL 61 form (post-mortem examination request form) and that the hospital could release the body to the family without conducting a post-mortem,” he said.
Logaraj, the inquest’s seventh witness, said this when reading his witness statement before coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan on the eighth day of the inquest into Zara’s death.
He also said Noraidah repeatedly refused to agree to a post-mortem on Zara’s body.
Logaraj said he had informed Noraidah that her family would be unable to pursue any claims or obtain an official forensic report on the cause of Zara’s death without a post-mortem.
He said the explanations were given before and after Noraidah signed a form refusing consent for a post-mortem, as well as while she was signing it.
“All the details in the form were filled in by the victim’s mother herself, and I was with her throughout the process,” Logaraj said during questioning by deputy public prosecutor Fairuz Johari, who is acting as the conducting officer for the inquest.
