KOTA KINABALU: Clothes that Zara Qairina Mahathir last wore have yet to be taken for a forensic test, her family lawyers said.
Zara Qairina was a former student who died from an apparent fall from her school hostel in Papar district on July 16.
In a joint statement on Sunday (Aug 3), family lawyers Hamid Ismail and Shahlan Jufri expressed surprise that the investigations concluded without the police collecting the clothes for forensic testing, especially in cases involving criminal suspicions.
“We are very surprised, throughout our experience of conducting criminal trial cases in court, the police will seize all items worn by a victim suspected of dying as a result of any criminal act for investigation purposes,” they said.
The lawyers disclosed that Zara Qairina’s personal belongings and the clothes that she wore when she was found near the dormitory building were handed over to her mother by the hospital on the same day of the incident.
“All the clothes and belongings are now in the custody of a representative of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) appointed as the sole representative of Zara’s mother.
“Since July 17, until today (Aug 3), the police have never taken or requested from our client to obtain all the clothes and belongings for investigation,” the lawyers said.
“We are of the opinion that the investigation papers sent to the Attorney General’s Department are incomplete, not comprehensive and have a very narrow focus. What’s more, no autopsy was conducted on Zara’s body before her burial,” they said.
In thanking the Prime Minister’s concern for the case, the lawyers hoped that the Attorney General would return the investigation papers to the police and agree to hold a post-mortem and inquest as soon as possible to determine the real cause of Zara’s death and whether there were any criminal elements involved.
