KOTA KINABALU: The inquest into the death of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir will resume tomorrow.
Proceedings were adjourned last month after 52 days of testimony at the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex.
Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan said the adjournment was to allow a related criminal trial involving five minors accused of bullying Zara Qairina between Dec 8 and Dec 19 to proceed, as well as to accommodate the year-end holidays and the opening of the legal year on Jan 16.
Proceedings scheduled to continue until Feb 13 are expected to hear testimony from two more teachers and Zara Qairina's mother, Noraidah Lamat.
Zara Qairina died on July 17, a day after she was found unconscious on the ground floor of the SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha hostel.
Following public outcry, her body was exhumed in Sipitang on Aug 9. A post-mortem was conducted at Queen Elizabeth Hospital here the following day by four pathologists, including Dr Jessie Hiu.
The inquest began on Sept 3 and has so far heard testimony from 57 witnesses, including 35 of Zara Qairina's schoolmates. More than 60 witnesses are expected to give evidence.
Dr Hiu, the first expert witness, testified that Zara Qairina's injuries were consistent with a fall from a height.
Other medical witnesses included emergency physician Dr Janefer Voo of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, who was the first to attend to Zara Qairina upon her admission, and neurosurgeon Dr Pavankumar Balachandran, who said he had discussed the girl's prognosis with her mother.
Former school security guard Linah Mansoding @ Jaliha testified that school chief warden Azhari Abd Sagap had instructed students to move the unconscious Zara Qairina to another location while waiting for an ambulance, cleaned up a pool of blood, and switched off the school's public telephones to prevent outside communication.
The inquest heard that Inspector Maidon Bernadus, who led a police fall simulation as part of the investigation into Zara Qairina's death, acknowledged that he was not a biomechanics expert and lacked expertise in fall biomechanics. This prompted renewed calls by the family's lawyers for specialist testimony.
The court, together with expert witnesses Dr Hiu and Maidon, revisited the scene at the school on Sept 11, 2025, as part of the inquest proceedings.
Child witnesses told the inquest that scolding juniors was a long-standing practice at the school and that Zara Qairina was repeatedly questioned by seniors over alleged theft, including on the night of July 15 during a meeting involving a group known as "Circle Nineteen".
Witnesses said that on that night, spot checks by juniors found stolen items in Zara Qairina's locker. She later returned to her dormitory in tears, but no one dared to console her. She was subsequently seen looking pale and unwell in the toilet before being found unconscious on the ground floor several hours later.
The court also heard that Zara Qairina had made farewell-like remarks to friends and was commonly labelled by peers as "the problematic Zara".
Disciplinary teacher Nur Shukriah Mohd Fauzi testified the school had withheld an internal investigation report on Zara Qairina after staff were instructed by superiors not to submit it to the police.
Another witness, Asnie Marjun, said the school had also received instructions not to share any information with Zara Qairina's mother.
During the three-month inquest, the Coroner's Court also allowed contempt proceedings to be initiated against activist Mona Din and former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal over public comments deemed capable of prejudicing or interfering with the proceedings.
Mona pleaded guilty and was fined RM300, while the court fixed Feb 3 to hear Mohd Shafie's contempt case.
Former headmaster Kamul Kamarudin was also fined RM10,000 by the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court for uploading a Facebook post containing threats against Dr Hiu.
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