INTERNAL INVESTIGATION REPORT ONLY KEPT IN FILE, NOT SHOWN TO PRINCIPAL OR ANY PARTY - WITNESS

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- A teacher at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Tun Datu Mustapha told the Coroner's Court here today that the report from the internal investigation into the Zara Qairina Mahathir case was never submitted to any party, but was instead kept in a special file at the school's disciplinary unit.

Assistant head of discipline Nurul Syahadah Ibrahim, 38, also confirmed that the report was not submitted to the District Education Office, State Education Department, Ministry of Education Malaysia, Royal Malaysia Police, or the school principal herself.

Responding to questions from lawyer Clarice Vyone Conrad, who represented Zara Qairina's father, the witness agreed that the report should have been submitted to the principal no matter what the circumstances were, as it was the principal's responsibility to know everything that happened at the school.

“Yes, that’s right. The principal needs to be informed even if it’s a minor case. I attribute this to my own mistake. This internal investigation report is only known to the disciplinary unit, and we maintain confidentiality even though we are in the same school. We think the report is only for the disciplinary unit’s internal storage.

“A copy of the report was also not given to the principal because she is no longer at the school, and we rarely meet to hand it over in person,” said the 54th witness at the Zara Qairina death inquest proceedings before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.

Clarice: Since when was the principal no longer at the school? Nurul Syahadah: As I recall, since August this year.

Clarice: When the report was dated July 16 and 17, the principal was still at the school, right?

Nurul Syahadah: There is still something, I missed it.

Clarice: Earlier the teacher said this was a serious case, how could it have been overlooked?

“It’s true, this is a serious case, but at that time we were really struggling with our respective duties and roles… Yes, the report dated July 16 and 17, I myself overlooked handing it over to the principal because I was too focused on the internal investigation,” she said.

The witness also reiterated that the report was only for the school’s internal records and not for the authorities, and admitted that she would likely hand it over if asked by the police.

Yesterday, the witness stated that the internal investigation was conducted on July 16 and 17 and August 4, 5 and 13, involving several students including five individuals who were said to be the last students to see Zara Qairina. The investigation was conducted through question-and-answer sessions and written statements from witnesses.

Today’s proceedings were shortened due to the Sabah state election tomorrow and will continue on Monday.

Zara Qairina, 13, was confirmed dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital here on July 17 after being found unconscious in a drain near her school dormitory at 4 am July 16.

-- BERNAMA