KOTA KINABALU: Mother of the late Zara Qairina Mahathir lodged a second police report concerning her daughter’s death almost three weeks after Zara was found dead at her school hostel in Papar, Sabah.
Noraidah Lamat lodged a report to request further investigation of the bruises she saw on her daughter’s back when the body was bathed at the Queen Elizabeth I Hospital in Kota Kinabalu on 17 July.
Zara Qairina was a Form One student who died from an apparent fall from her school hostel on July 16.
The report was lodged with the Sipitang police station, approximately 130 km from here.
In a joint statement, her lawyers, Hamid Ismail and Shahlan Jufri, said that their client saw the bruises herself because she was the one who bathed Zara’s body along with several other women.
“Our client only recalled the bruises when we questioned her yesterday afternoon regarding the condition of her daughter’s body when he was bathing her,” they said, adding that she forgot to highlight the bruises because at that time she was mourning.
The lawyers said that Noraidah believes the bruises she saw were the effects of injuries caused by blows using a blunt object.
Zara was found on the ground floor of her school dormitory building at about 3am on July 16 and died at the Queen Elizabeth I Hospital here.
The lawyers also mentioned the statement by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail on Saturday (Aug 2) that the police investigation into the case has been completed and the investigation papers would be submitted to the Attorney General’s Chambers next week.
“However, the latest developments above justify the reopening of the case investigation.
“Zara’s body needs to be exhumed immediately and a post-mortem performed on her body to determine the true cause of death and whether there were criminal elements that caused the death,” the statement added.
In the same statement, the lawyer also referred to the police report made by Noraidah on July 30 regarding the recording of a telephone conversation between her and the late Zara.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jauteh Dikun stated that the police would investigate the latest report by the mother.
