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A JUNIOR student has told the Kota Kinabalu Coroner’s Court that she saw Zara Qairina Mahathir looking pale in the dormitory toilet the night before the 13-year-old’s death.
The testimony was given by the 20th child witness during the 27th day of the inquest before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
Lawyer Mohd Syarulnizam Mohd Salleh, representing Zara Qairina’s mother, said the witness testified that she saw the victim at 12.30 am on July 16 while she went to the toilet with a friend on the third floor of the school dormitory.
“The witness said Zara appeared to be looking around to see who else was in the toilet. The toilet light was on at the time, and she was able to see Zara. Her face looked a little pale,” he said.
The witness reportedly waited about five minutes, but when Zara did not emerge, she went to wake the dorm leader and the victim’s roommates.
“However, none in the dorm wanted to wake up. The dorm leader only said, ‘Why is she locked up? Let her be,’ while the others, appearing sleepy, went back to sleep,” Mohd Syarulnizam added.
The witness also noted a dormitory culture in which senior students would subject juniors to harsh or sarcastic reprimands, sometimes scolding loudly without naming anyone, which could cause embarrassment.
Meanwhile, lawyer Joan Goh, representing one of the teenagers implicated in the bullying case, said the 21st child witness told the court that Zara often kept her feelings to herself, recording them in a diary.
The witness recalled being told early on the morning of July 16, "Zara jumped from the second floor; there was a lot of her blood on the floor at the bottom level," but initially did not believe it.
The witness described seeing traces of blood at the bottom floor and wondered whether Zara had jumped from the second or third level.
She then went to the surau for morning prayers. Earlier that night, she had seen Zara inside the toilet with two friends while filling water containers around 12.30 am, observing her peeking over the cubicle wall as if checking who else was present.
Zara Qairina was found unconscious across a drain near the school hostel at 4 am and died the following day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The inquest is scheduled to resume on Monday, October 27. - October 24, 2025
