KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police have not ruled out elements of bullying in the death of Form One student Zara Qairina Mahathir.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jauteh Dikun said claims of bullying, which could have caused the death of the 13-year-old, were part of their investigations.
He said the investigation will also focus on the circumstances leading to the girl's fall from her hostel building at SMA Tun Datu Mustafa in Papar, around 3am on July 16.
He said investigations were conducted thoroughly with absolute sensitivity as traumatised students were involved but allegations that those implicated in this case included children of a state assemblyman and VVIPs including himself, were unfounded.
“I have no children studying there, never have. This means there are some people who are trying to disrupt our probe,” Jauteh said, adding that he did not check which child belonged to whom when gathering statements for the probe.
He said this during a press conference after the Sabah Warriors’ Day celebration at the state Police Headquarters in Kepayan near here on Thursday (July 31).
He explained that investigations would take time as everything has to be done thoroughly, professionally, sensitively and properly with the help of counsellors.
“These children are traumatised, and scared. We cannot just expect them to blurt out the information we need accurately and truthfully without proper methods,” said Jauteh.
He said that investigation papers have been handed over to Bukit Aman for the final evaluation before the next course of action, which is to refer it to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC).
Jauteh said a total of 61 people including students and teachers have had their statements recorded.
As for claims that this case is being swept under the rug because the school principal was the wife of Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud, both Mustapha and his wife Rosnih Nasir, have since denied the claims and maintained that she has nothing to do with the incident.
Mustapha said his wife only served as the principal in that school between March and November last year before retiring.
