KOTA KINABALU: Conflicting accounts surfaced at the inquest into the death of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir (pic), after a forensic doctor testified that he had advised her mother to consent to a post-mortem examination, a claim her lawyers later disputed.
Seventh witness Dr Logaraj Ratha told the Coroner’s Court that he had explained the importance of the procedure to Zara Qairina’s mother, Noraidah Lamat, on July 17, a day after the teenager’s death.
Dr Logaraj said he repeated his advice several times before, during and after Noraidah signed a declaration form refusing the procedure.
“I told her clearly that without a post-mortem, the family would not have access to a full forensic report, which might be important for insurance or legal purposes in the future.
“But she insisted she did not want one.
“At the time, she looked calm. I explained in simple language, gave her time to think and she was able to answer my questions coherently. She was oriented to time, place and person,” he testified.
However, counsel for Noraidah, Rizwandean M. Borhan, later told the media that his client maintained she was never advised.
“I asked the doctor in court, as instructed by my client, whether she was ever informed of the need for a post-mortem,” he said.
“Our client has consistently said she was never told about the requirement for an autopsy when her daughter died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 17.
“But the doctor (Logaraj) disagreed.”
Dr Logaraj, 33, said Noraidah’s sister-in-law, Nurshira Abdullah, was present during the explanation and signed as a witness.
Police had earlier decided against a medico-legal autopsy, with investigating officer Insp Wong Yew Zhung informing Dr Logaraj that Zara Qairina’s cause of death had already been certified as severe traumatic brain injury with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.
Asked why Noraidah refused the post-mortem, Dr Logaraj said he was unsure but noted that in his experience, such refusals are sometimes linked to cultural or religious considerations.
He also said that only the police could order a post-mortem in such cases, and he had no authority to do so.
Meanwhile, the court also heard that Zara Qairina was last seen crying and shouting that she did not steal, after being accused of theft by peers at her school.
She was initially accused of stealing RM300 belonging to one of the dormitory residents.
Head warden Azhari Abd Sagap, 31, testified that students had confronted Zara Qairina on July 15 after a dormitory leader’s Malaysia flag pin was found in her bag.
Written confessions from students revealed that she was asked to swear she had not stolen, which she did, before harsh words were exchanged.
Zara Qairina then left the room in tears, screaming: “Saya tidak mencuri bah, bodoh” (“I did not steal, stupid”).
Azhari later told the court that the missing purse was eventually found within the school compound, but it was not immediately returned to its owner.
He added, however, that the money inside it was gone.
Hours later, at about 3am on July 16, Azhari received calls from a security guard and found Zara Qairina unconscious by a drain near the girls’ hostel.
He said he moved her about 20m to a flat, sheltered walkway instead of the nearby sick bay, which had been converted into the student leaders’ room, as he did not want to traumatise other students staying there.
“At first, I did not see any injuries. It was only after moving her that I noticed blood at the edge of the drain and a broken ankle. She was breathing heavily, as if snoring,” he said.
Azhari called the emergency hotline at 3.17am and again at 3.47am. He also tried calling Zara Qairina’s parents but received no answer.
An ambulance arrived shortly before 4am and took her to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, about 40km from Papar.
The inquest has so far heard from eight witnesses out of 68, about half of whom are students.
Proceedings are scheduled to run until the end of the month, though lawyers have indicated that it may extend beyond September.
Zara Qairina, a Form One student at a religious boarding school in Papar, died on July 17, a day after she was found unconscious at the hostel.
The inquest, presided over by Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan, continues today.
