Zara Often Spoke To Her Mother Before Tragic Incident

---

KOTA KINABALU (Nov 6): A witness told the Coroner’s Court here today that the late Zara Qairina Mahathir often enjoyed talking to her mother, Noraidah Lamat, over the phone.
The 29th witness, who is also the 38th deponent in the inquest into Zara’s death, testified that she had personally witnessed Zara speaking with her mother several times while they were together.
The witness, who was Zara’s dormmate and used to be one of her close friends, said she had accompanied Zara during some of these phone conversations.
In a statement issued by the legal team representing Zara’s mother, it was stated that the witness was also Zara’s classmate, and that both girls had been close at the beginning of the year but grew apart after Zara became closer to other junior students.
According to the statement, before the alleged missing money incident, there had been several cases of missing items in the dormitory, including money, flag pins and clothing. Initially, another student was suspected, but later the accusation shifted to Zara.
“On the night of July 15, at about 10pm, the witness took Zara to another dorm to meet her friend because she and several other dorm members wanted to conduct a spot-check on Zara’s locker and belongings,” the counsel stated.
“Initially, Zara only spoke briefly with the junior student before returning to her dorm. The witness had asked the junior student to continue talking to Zara to delay her return, allowing them time to perform the spot-check without Zara’s knowledge.”
The statement continued that while Zara and the witness were heading back, a senior student called out to Zara, saying, “Hey, you Zara, come here,” asking her to enter a dorm room next to hers for a “talk” about the alleged missing items. The witness saw Zara enter the room and then returned to her own dorm.
The witness later said she and several other students searched Zara’s locker and bag but found nothing.
However, the witness claimed to have found two flag pins — one belonging to a senior student in Zara’s bag and another belonging to a junior student in Zara’s pants pocket — which she then handed to the senior student.
After that, the witness went to the ground floor to iron her clothes. “When passing a dorm room, she saw Zara seated cross-legged inside, surrounded by several senior students. The witness did not interfere and went downstairs to iron her clothes,” the counsel said.
Upon returning to her dorm, the witness saw Zara distressed and crying, loudly insisting that she did not steal. “No one dared to comfort Zara, including the witness herself, as she was afraid to approach Zara when she was upset,” the counsel added.
Shortly after, the witness saw Zara go to the toilet on the same floor. When Zara took too long to return, the witness decided to check on her.
“The witness peeked through the gap of toilet room number one and saw Zara’s face, but she did not speak to her,” the statement read.
Later, two junior students came out of their dorm and headed to the toilet, and the witness told them that Zara was inside toilet room number one.
“The witness said they became frightened and ran out to alert the senior students and other dorm members,” the counsel said.
The witness went back and forth between the toilet and the dorm twice to tell the seniors that Zara had been in the toilet for a long time. One senior allegedly replied, “What else is she doing?” before resuming using her cellphone.
Afterward, the witness stayed up talking to two juniors about what she had seen before returning to her dorm to sleep around midnight.
“The next morning, around 4.30am, the witness was informed that Zara had allegedly fallen from the building and was taken to the hospital,” the counsel said.
The inquest proceedings will continue on November 7. - borneopost

---