ZARA QAIRINA INQUEST: EX-PRINCIPAL UNAWARE OF STUDENTS’ WRITTEN STATEMENTS

KOTA KINABALU, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Former principal of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Tun Datu Mustapha, Shaharom Hashim, 51, told the Coroner’s Court today that she was unaware of written statements from five students concerning the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir.

The 47th witness, who was recalled to testify, said she only learned about the five students’ written statements after they were handed over to the police.

“I was only made aware of the students’ witness statements on July 16 and 17 after they were handed over to the police,” she told the court when questioned by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan here.

Responding to a question from lawyer Shahlan Jufri, representing Zara Qairina’s mother, on the two reports submitted by the school about the incident, Shaharom said the first report was about the student’s fall in the dormitory, while the second was with regard to the chronology of the incident.

The witness said she received the first report on the morning of July 16 to be submitted to the Papar District Education Office (PPD) at 10.04 am and the State Education Department (JPN), while the second report came from the student affairs secretary on Aug 12, 2025.

Asked by the coroner if any minister or deputy minister had visited the school after the incident, Shaharom said that, to her knowledge, there had been none.

She said, however, that officials from the Ministry of Education and the Islamic Education Division had visited the school following the incident, with counsellors present to provide counselling.

Meanwhile, the eighth witness, head warden Azhari Abd Sagap, 31, who was recalled to testify, told the court that a student at the hostel had found a piece of paper prior to the incident.

He said the piece of paper containing text about Zara Qairina was found on the corridor of the hostel’s third floor during a gotong-royong activity held prior to the incident and was later handed to the police for investigation on July 21, 2025.

Zara Qairina, 13, died on July 17 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she had been admitted a day earlier after being found unconscious across a drain near her school hostel at 4am.

On Aug 8, the Attorney General’s Chambers ordered her remains to be exhumed for a post-mortem before announcing an inquest into her death on Aug 13.

The inquest proceedings will continue tomorrow.

--BERNAMA