Zara Was Cornered Mocked Hours Before Found Unconscious Inquest Told

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Second child witness recounts how the 13-year-old was ridiculed over a missing wallet, and a letter expressing her wish to be a school prefect.
Zara Qairina Mahathir was found unconscious in a drain outside her dormitory in Papar, Sabah, on July 16 and died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital the next day. (Facebook pic)PETALING JAYA: A second child witness told the inquest into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir in Kota Kinabalu today the 13-year-old was cornered and mocked by fellow students in a dormitory, just hours before she was found unconscious in a drain on July 16
Lawyers Rizwandean M Borhan and Shahlan Jufri said the witness gave detailed testimony on what happened on the night of July 15, Utusan Malaysia reported.
According to the account, Zara was brought into a room at the dormitory by another student, made to sit in a corner, and asked to swear that she had not stolen a wallet. She swore “Wallahi (by Allah) I did not steal”, and the witness, who had suspected her, apologised.
Then, suddenly another student came in, scolded her, and accused Zara of stealing a flag pin. That student then left and returned with two others,” the lawyers were quoted as saying.
They said that according to the witness, five students had surrounded Zara.
“Out of that group, only one appeared angry. However, the witness confirmed that there was no physical contact with Zara,” they said.
Rizwandean and Shahlan said the witness also recalled another peer producing a letter in which Zara had written about her wish to be a “badar”, a member of the school’s religious prefect board.
“Zara was mocked further after they saw the contents of that letter. Zara cried even more after that,” they said.
The witness said that after the group left, Zara ran out of the dormitory as well.
Zara died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 17 a day after she was found unconscious in the drain outside the dormitory, and was buried at the Tanjung Ubi Muslim cemetery in Sipitang the same day.
On Aug 8, the Attorney-General’s Chambers ordered that her remains be exhumed for a post-mortem, before announcing an inquest into her death on Aug 13.
The inquest continues tomorrow. - FMT

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