KOTA KINABALU: The Coroner’s Court heard that the mother of the late Zara Qairina Mahathir declined a post-mortem examination on her daughter’s body despite having received an explanation.
Dr Logaraj Ratha, 33, from the Forensic Medicine Department of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), said that since no issues were raised, the hospital released Zara’s remains to her mother, Noraidah Lamat, in line with hospital and departmental policy.
“After receiving confirmation from Noraidah that she was declining a post-mortem, I handed her the Declaration of Refusal for Post-Mortem Examination at Own Request. I explained the contents of the document and the sections that needed to be filled in.
“I also informed her that without a post-mortem, the family would not be able to make any claims or obtain an official report on the cause of death from the hospital’s Forensic Medicine Department in the future,” he said when reading his witness statement before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
Dr Logaraj, the seventh witness in Zara’s inquest, said that Noraidah filled in the first paragraph and the claimant signature section of the letter. Her sister-in-law, Nur Shira Abdullah, also filled in her details in the witness section and signed the document.
“I signed the document as the attending doctor handling the case. Noraidah confirmed that she understood the explanation and the contents of the letter that had been completed and signed,” he said.
Earlier, Dr Logaraj said that at 5pm on July 17, he was informed of a death in the Neurosurgery Ward at QEH which was subject to police investigation. The body, identified as Zara, was later transferred from the Neurosurgery Ward to the Forensic Medicine Department.
He said one of the services provided by the department was mortuary management.
“The scope of this service includes the collection, registration, storage and release of bodies from wards or the Emergency and Trauma Department to the next of kin.
“All deaths in QEH must go through the Forensic Medicine Department before being released to the family, in line with the operational policy of the department and the Standard Operating Procedure of Forensic Medicine Services Malaysia,” he said.
Dr Logaraj said that as the case involved police investigation, he informed the on-duty forensic pathologist, Dr Ding Chee Swan.
He also contacted the investigating officer, Inspector Wong Yew Zhung, from the Papar district police headquarters’ criminal investigation division.
“Wong informed me that he had met Dr Pavankumar Balachandran, the medical officer on duty at the Neurosurgery Department.
“Dr Pavankumar confirmed that the cause of Zara’s death was severe traumatic brain injury with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy.
“Wong also said he would consult his superiors before giving further feedback,” he said.
Dr Logaraj said he was later informed by Inspector Wong that the police would not issue Form Pol. 61, the Request for Post-Mortem Examination form, and that the hospital could therefore release Zara’s remains to her family without a medico-legal post-mortem.
“For the release of the body, I received a letter of clearance from Wong authorising Zara’s remains to be handed over to Noraidah without going through the medico-legal post-mortem process.
“I then met with Zara’s mother, Noraidah, and another family member, Nur Shira Abdullah. I informed Noraidah that the police were not issuing Form Pol. 61.
“I also tried to obtain further details regarding Zara’s death. I explained to Noraidah, in the presence of Shira, the need for and importance of a post-mortem examination.
“Although Form Pol. 61 was not issued by the police, a clinical post-mortem could still have been carried out with the consent of the next of kin. However, Noraidah decided against it despite the explanation provided,” he said.
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