KOTA KINABALU: A child witness told the Coroner’s Court that 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir once expressed her wish to become a badar (religious prefect) at her school, but her private note about this aspiration was mocked by fellow students shortly before her death.
Testifying at the inquest into Zara Qairina’s death, the second child witness, Student B, said the note, referred to in court as her “privacy letter”, was read aloud and ridiculed by several students during a confrontation in the dormitory on the night of July 15.
“She said it was Zara Qairina’s private letter, where she had written that she wanted to be a badar. Some of the students laughed at her because of it,” said lawyer Rizwandean M. Borhan, who is holding a watching brief for Zara Qairina’s mother, after proceedings on Wednesday (Sept 24).
The witness recalled that Zara Qairina, already in tears after being accused of theft, cried even more as the letter was mocked.
“She was surrounded, scolded and called names. Then they laughed at her after seeing the letter. She cried even harder,” the witness testified.
Earlier, the same witness stated that Zara Qairina had been wrongly suspected of stealing a wallet and, later, a Malaysian flag pin.
When confronted, Zara Qairina swore she had not taken the items, and the complainant eventually apologised.
However, the situation escalated when more students joined in, with some verbally abusing her and later producing the private letter.
Zara Qairina, was pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital here on July 17. She had been admitted after being found unconscious in a drain near her school dormitory in Papar at 4am on July 16.
An inquest was held to determine the circumstances surrounding her death, with more than 30 child witnesses expected to testify.
