KOTA KINABALU (Oct 13): Investigating officer Inspector Wong Yew Zhung told the Coroner's Court here on Tuesday that 200 witness statements were recorded throughout the investigation to complete the sudden death report in Zara Qairina Mahathir’s case.
Wong said the witnesses included Zara Qairina's family members, neighbours, primary and secondary school friends, teachers, medical officers, police officers and students of the Rabiatul Adawiyah block girls' hostel at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Tun Datu Mustapha, Papar.
The 83rd witness in the inquest proceedings into Zara Qairina's death said he had recorded all the statements with the assistance of police officers from the Papar district police headquarters (IPD), the Sabah contingent police headquarters (IPK) and the Sipitang IPD.
"My investigation found that no witness personally saw the incident that led to Zara Qairina being found unconscious near the drain of the Rabiatul Adawiyah block hostel at SMKA TDM.
"Nobody, including security guards or hostel wardens, carried out patrols on Level 3 of the Rabiatul Adawiyah block on the night of the incident. My checks also found that no CCTV was installed in the SMKA TDM hostel area that could provide footage of the incident," he said.
Wong also told the court that he had checked with the school and hostel management to verify whether there had been any complaints of bullying involving Zara Qairina.
He said the checks found no record showing that Zara Qairina herself, or her parents or guardians, had ever lodged any formal complaint with the school over bullying, assault or any other incidents concerning the teenager.
Wong said he had also reviewed the data extraction analysis from mobile phones seized during the investigation, but was of the view that the analysis did not uncover any information or evidence that could help explain the circumstances or manner of Zara Qairina's death.
"Overall, my investigation covered the recording of testimony from various categories of witnesses, examination of the scene, checks with the school and hostel management, review of documents related to Zara Qairina, scrutiny of medical testimony and post-mortem findings, as well as analysis of digital evidence.
"All these actions were carried out to obtain a comprehensive picture of the circumstances and events that led to Zara Qairina being found unconscious, and to identify any testimony or evidence that could assist the Coroner's Court in determining the cause, manner and how her death occurred," he said.
Zara Qairina died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 17, 2025, a day after she was found unconscious near a drain at her school hostel at 4am.
During the afternoon proceedings, Wong admitted that he had intended for a post-mortem to be conducted on Zara Qairina after receiving instructions to establish the cause of the teenager’s death.
Answering a question from lawyer Nurul Rafeeqa Afdul Mutolip, who represents Zara Qairina’s father, Wong said he had informed and explained to Noraidah that a post-mortem would be conducted to give her time to prepare herself.
Nurul Rafeeqah asked why Wong had informed and explained to Noraidah Noraidah Lamat that a post-mortem would be conducted, and whether the investigating officer knew that he could issue a POL 61 form without the consent of a next of kin, such as Zara Qairina’s mother.
Wong said he knew that a POL 61 form authorising a post-mortem could be issued without the consent of the next of kin.
However, Wong explained that the form was not issued because Zara Qairina’s cause of death had been identified as severe traumatic brain injury with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy, and no other injuries were found apart from those sustained in the fall from a height.
He said they also did not want to burden Zara Qairina’s family, as Noraidah had been briefed twice but remained opposed to a post-mortem. Therefore, no attempt was made to compel the procedure to be carried out on the teenager.
The inquest proceedings will resume on Wednesday with the same witness.
Uploaded by Felyx Teoh