The Kota Kinabalu coroner’s court was told today that Zara Qairina Mahathir, who died in July, might have been taken to a banned senior-junior meeting known as “MA” after she was accused of stealing RM300.
Dormitory security guard Linah Mansoding @ Jaliha, 65, said students had named Zara as the suspect and alerted Form Four seniors who acted as dormitory wardens, Kosmo reported.
“She might have been taken to attend an ‘MA’ gathering,” she was quoted as saying.
The court also heard that the meetings were banned in 2017 as they were often misused to intimidate younger students.
Linah said that such sessions were conducted secretly, without the knowledge of teachers or wardens, and usually in disciplinary cases.
“During my time here, I’ve only known of three ‘MA’ sessions taking place, including during the enhanced movement control order.
“Problems should be reported to teachers. But in this case, the seniors acted on their own by summoning their juniors. That’s why ‘MA’ is banned,” she said.
Asked about her interactions with Zara, Linah said there were only two: once when she saw a TikTok video of Zara on her social media feed, and once when she scolded students for washing clothes at night.
“Zara joked around by running about in the laundry area,” she added.
