KOTA KINABALU: Harsh words and foul language are part of everyday school life, so much so that even teachers use them, the inquest into the death of teenager Zara Qairina Mahathir heard.
Two student witnesses testified that it was not unusual to hear vulgar words being shouted in the hostel, including from seniors towards juniors, according to counsel Joan Goh, who related to reporters about what was testified in the inquest yesterday.
Goh is representing Student A, who is jointly charged with four other teenage girls for using offensive words against Zara Qairina.
She said one student claimed foul language was so common that even teachers used it, and did not reprimand students for doing the same.
A witness confirmed that at least one teacher was known to use such words, though it was unclear how many others behaved similarly.
“Witnesses also said seniors told juniors that these words were used because they themselves had gone through the same treatment when they were juniors,” Goh added.
Another counsel, Datuk Ram Singh, said the two witnesses, dubbed Witnesses 5 and Witness 6, who testified yesterday, could not recall much, as they were simply “minding their own business”.
Lawyer Azhier Farhan Arisin, who represents Students B, C, D and E, who are jointly charged alongside Student A, told the Coroner’s Court that Witness 5 had clarified that some harsh words mentioned earlier were not directed at Zara Qairina, but uttered at the dormitory door.
“The witness confirmed that Zara Qairina was not physically abused or humiliated. And regarding ‘Circle 19’, she said it was just a group for school activities, not gangsterism, and had no role in Zara Qairina’s case.
“The witness confirmed Zara Qairina was not bullied by them,” he said.
He added that both Witnesses 5 and 6 were eyewitnesses, though not close friends of Zara Qairina, and both stayed in the dorm where the incident occurred.
Counsel Shahlan Jufri, representing Zara Qairina’s mother Noraidah Lamat, said Witness 5 had described the 13-year-old as a cheerful person who showed no signs of mental distress before she was found unconscious on the ground floor of the dormitory in the early hours of July 16.
2D and 3D floor plans of the dormitory were used to assist the witnesses in sketching the scene.
“Witness 6 confirmed that Zara Qairina entered the room at about 10.20pm on July 15 to meet a senior regarding a suspected wallet theft. Later, four more seniors entered the room and scolded her, but she could not identify who.
“She also said Zara Qairina walked out of the room in tears at around 11pm, just before lights out. That was the first time she saw Zara Qairina cry, and the last time she saw her alive.
“She only learned who the seniors were the next day, during prayers at the surau.”
