By Olivia Miwil
Students of SMKA Tun Mustapha in Papar were traumatised after Zara Qairina Mahathir was found unconscious in a drain outside her hostel on July 16 but they were not allowed to contact their families, the Coroner's Court heard today. -NSTP/MOHD ADAM ARININ
KOTA KINABALU: Students of SMKA Tun Mustapha in Papar were traumatised after Zara Qairina Mahathir was found unconscious in a drain outside her hostel on July 16 but they were not allowed to contact their families, the Coroner's Court heard today.
School guard, Linah Mansoding, 65, from Kinarut told the court the Form One students had tried to contact their parents to take them home, using teachers' and security guards' handphones.
In her earlier testimony, Linah had said all six public telephones in the school compound were switched off after Zara was found.
Today Linah said the children were not allowed to return home as the school principal had gone to Zara's house.
Linah said as the children were in fear, they were told to sleep in the sick bays and were assured that security guards would look after them.
On the night of July 17, she added, one of the students' mothers came to pick up her child and another student, referred to as "A", but school warden "Cikgu Fatimah" insisted that the students could not be released without the principal's approval.
"Cikgu Fatimah did not allow their release as the principal was busy at Zara's home in Sipitang.
"They (the mother and the warden) talked for more than an hour. Around midnight, after consoling her child, the mother went home.
"The daughter and student A were at the school gate during the conversation while the mother was outside the school compound," she said, adding that student A appeared 'sad' while the other student looked 'normal'.
Original article published here
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