Zara inquest: More new evidence adduced in court

KOTA KINABALU (Jan 22): The Coroner’s Court here has been told that Student D had revealed to a former chief warden that there were several pages of papers shown to fellow students on the night before the late Zara Qairina Mahathir was found unconscious under her dormitory building.

The papers were another new evidence adduced in court following testimony by former chief warden Azhari Abd Sagap when questioned by counsel Shahlan Jufri.

“Student D revealed to me that there was a student who gave the papers, but the papers were not with Student D. The papers were with another student but had already been given to Ustazah Syukriah.

“Student D did not show me the papers, Student D only told me about the papers that were shown on the night of the incident,” Azhari testified.

He said he could not remember how many pages there were but that he had taken photos of them and also scanned them.

This prompted Shahlan to request for a stand down to retrieve the said papers before continuing his questioning of Azhari.

On Wednesday, Azhari told the court that he had shown the papers to the deputy public prosecutor, and had also given them to the police.

Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan allowed for a stand down and reminded parties to prepare all documents and peruse them to facilitate the questioning of witnesses.

The proceedings later resumed with several papers identified and marked as court exhibits.

Azhari explained that the said papers were notes with titles ‘saya sedih‘ (I’m sad); ‘assalamualaikum kawan‘ (Peace be upon you friend); ‘surat privasi‘ (privacy letter); ‘kenapa awak nak sangat jadi badar‘ (why you really want to become a prefect); ‘calling bf di blok A‘ (calling bf at the block A); and two other notes.

Other documents also marked as court exhibits were screenshots of conversations, namely conversations between Azhari and Syukriah; conversations between a teacher with Student A’s mother dated March 2025; conversations between teachers; and five pages of mental health screening.

Azhari testified that screenshots between the teacher and mother of Student A were about the mother of Student A allegedly knowing of Zara supposedly having conflicts with her mother and grandmother.

He explained that the conversations were allegedly about Zara’s mother and grandmother going to the school and waiting for hours without Zara coming down to see them.

“The conversation further alleged that she (Zara) instead cursed her mother and grandmother, and that because of the long wait, Zara’s mother went up to see Zara.”

Zara, 13, was found unconscious under her dormitory building on July 16, 2025 and died the next day at the hospital.

On Aug 20, 2025, five minors were charged with using insulting words against Zara, with the court case currently ongoing.

Zara’s mother Noraidah Lamat is represented by counsel Shahlan Rizwandean, Mohd Luqman Syazwan Zabidi Md Zain, Mohd Syarulnizam Mohd Salleh, Farrah Nasser, and Elhanan James.

Zara’s father Mahathir Mohd Hashim is represented by counsel Sherzali Herza Asli, Nurul Rafeeqa Afdul Mutolip, and Clarice Vyone Conrad.

Counsels Datuk Ram Singh, Joan Goh, and Prem Elmer Ganasan are holding a watching brief for the first child accused, while Azhier Farhan Arisin, Abdul Fikry Jaafar Abdullah, Mohammed Fareez Mohammed Salleh, and Sylyester Kuan are counsels for the second to fourth child accused.

The inquest continues tomorrow.