Zara Qairina's inquest: Student A still called 'murderer' after school transfer, court told

 By Olivia Miwil

February 2, 2026 @ 1:21pm

Conducting officer Mohd Fairuz Johari examined the 62nd witness on the 59th day of the inquest into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir. - NSTP FILE PIC

KOTA KINABALU: Student A continued to be labelled a "murderer" even after transferring to a new school, the Coroner's Court was told today.

The child's mother testified before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan that in the first few days after her daughter enrolled at the new school, a student had called Student A a murderer directly to her face.

"For the second incident, when she went on stage to receive her first prize, students from the same batch uttered 'murderer, murderer'.

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"She did not hear it herself, but people around her did and later informed her. There were also boos," she said, adding that her daughter transferred to the new school in November last year.

Conducting officer Mohd Fairuz Johari examined the 62nd witness on the 59th day of the inquest into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir.

Student A is one of five students charged in the alleged bullying case involving Zara Qairina.

The mother also told the court that Student A was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) last year and is still undergoing treatment, as recently as last Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the witness said she had lodged 12 complaints with SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha throughout her daughter's schooling there, involving alleged insults, scolding, theft and vandalism, among others.

However, the 42-year-old housewife said none of the responses she received were satisfactory.

She also maintained that her daughter did not know how to lie or fabricate stories.

"If she lies, I can see that she becomes uncomfortable. We teach her to be disciplined and to always tell the truth.

"She is a cheerful child with stable emotions. She is always chatting with me, although some of the stories made me irritated," she said, adding that she was concerned about the influence of her daughter's dormitory mates.

The witness further told the court that Zara Qairina had confided in Student A about her belief that her father did not love her because he refused to buy items she wanted.

She said she had advised her daughter to tell Zara that her father might have had valid reasons for not fulfilling her wishes.

Student A is represented by Datuk Ram Singh, Joan Goh and Prem Elmer Ganasan.

The inquest will resume at 2pm.