The chief warden of SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha today questioned why Zara Qairina Mahathir’s mother, Noraidah Lamat, had allegedly remained silent despite claims that her daughter had complained about problems at the hostel.
Azhari Abd Sagap, 31, raised the matter during his testimony as the eighth witness on the ninth day of the inquest into the Form One student’s death before coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
“The story about ‘Kak M’ started last May, based on the school’s investigation. Why didn’t Zara’s mother lodge any report with the school?
“I was deeply affected by the student’s death, which is why I sought to find out everything.
“If Zara herself did not complain, there should at least have been a complaint from her mother. But there was none,” Bernama reported him as saying.
‘Kak M’ is the moniker for one of Zara’s schoolmates she was heard talking about in an audio clip of a conversation between Zara and Noraidah that was shared widely on social media and verified by Noraidah.
While social media users have understood the name to refer to one of the students accused of bullying Zara, Azhari stressed that ‘Kak M’ instead refers to another student, and not the student referred to online.
Responding to questions from lawyer Abdul Fikry Jaafar, representing four of the students charged with bullying in the case, Azhari said the victim’s mother had also never told him of any bullying allegations when they met at the hospital’s emergency unit.
“We only became aware of the bullying after the victim’s mother posted about it on TikTok,” he said.
Zara stayed in the Qurratu Ayun hostel on the third floor of the Rabiatul Adawiyah block with 11 other students in a hostel under Azhari’s direct supervision.
Yesterday, Azhari, who was also her Arabic teacher, said he never received any complaints from her regarding any problems she faced in the hostel.
Earlier today, he also denied the school and its staff members had tried to hide the truth about Zara’s death. He said he and the school faced condemnation despite doing all that they could to save the teenager.
He said this included accompanying Zara’s mother at the hospital, attending the Form One student’s funeral and fully cooperating with the police.
Zara 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 for her remains to be exhumed for a post-mortem before announcing an inquest into her death on Aug 13.
