KOTA KINABALU: The lawyer of Zara Qairina Mahathir’s family has refuted claims that a recording of a woman screaming for help contains the voice of the 13-year-old girl.
Hamid Ismail described the allegation as slander and urged the public to stop circulating such content.
“A video of a woman screaming has been going around on TikTok. That is not Zara Qairina. Netizens should refrain from spreading defamatory material; we do not want anyone to be falsely accused.
“Please support Zara Qairina’s mother, who is under emotional distress,” he told reporters when met at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s forensic department here on Sunday (Aug 10).
Zara Qairina’s body was at the hospital following her exhumation yesterday for a post-mortem.
Hamid previously issued a statement urging social media users to stop sharing speculation, images, videos and personal details of the schoolgirl.
On Wednesday (Aug 6), Hamid and fellow lawyer Shahlan Jufri also called for all such content to be removed.
“To those who have shared the video and images, we request that you delete them. Speculation only adds to our client’s grief and stress,” they said, adding that anyone with information on Zara Qairina’s case should come forward to assist police investigations.
They also listed several viral claims they deemed inappropriate, including a video in which a woman alleged that Zara Qairina had been placed in a washing machine.
Meanwhile, the crowd outside the hospital swelled to an estimated 100 people, most of them locals and not family members. Many said they wanted to be there to show solidarity with Zara’s family and to get updates on the post-mortem findings.
Among them was Shamsul Kamal Yussof, 36, who had waited at the hospital since 1pm with his wife and six-month-old daughter.
“This whole case is unfair,” he said, adding that what had happened to Zara Qairina made people angry, especially parents.
