By Olivia Miwil
KOTA KINABALU: A senior student testified that she had returned to her dormitory to sleep at 10.30pm after questioning Zara Qairina Mahathir on July 15 — the night before Zara was found unconscious outside the hostel building of SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha.
The 12th child witness said she had been called by a friend to dorm A-3-6 to reprimand Zara.
"There was a group of people in the dorm, including about 10 Form One students who were already in their own beds.
"At that time, a student told me that a dormmate's wallet had been stolen by Zara.
"That person also said that a badge pin belonging to another student was found in Zara's bag.
"I asked Zara about it — 'Zara, just be honest, is it true that you took those things?' But Zara denied it.
"One student explained the missing wallet incident to Zara, but I could not follow the story as I was already sleepy. I then left and went back to dorm A-3-7 to sleep around 10.30pm," she said in a witness statement shared by her lawyer with the media.
She told the Coroner's Court that she did not know what happened after that and did not leave her room, as she slept until 4am.
She added that she was awakened at 4am on July 16 when everyone was alarmed by Zara's fall.
The child said she had been sleeping in dorm A-3-7 since the start of the 2025 school year, although her belongings were still kept in her designated room, A-3-1.
"I slept in A-3-7 because some of my friends were there. We even have a group called Circle 19.
"Other seniors and I had our own roles with the juniors — to look after their safety and ensure they maintained cleanliness of the room, their personal belongings and the toilets.
"However, we were never given any authority by the school to look for offenders or punish them."
The inquest will resume tomorrow.
The original article was posted here.
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