Kota Kinabalu: A warden said the “lesbian” issue involving Zara Qairina Mahathir was merely a perception among students when they saw two female students being very close.
Miswati Lundu, 37, who is also a teacher under SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha’s Unit Bimbingan dan Kaunseling, said the “lesbian” issue was only “cakap-cakap” among students when they saw Zara being close to a friend.
“The students’ perception was that when they saw this girl being close to another friend, they would immediately assume that there must be something going on.
“And that is only the students’ perception, and they do not know the actual situation,” said Miswati, the 48th deponent in Zara’s inquest before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
To a question from Conducting Officer Mohd Fairuz Johari, Miswati said the “lesbian” issue started among students but one of the students had made a complaint about it.
Reading out her witness statement, Miswati said she had received a complaint about the “lesbian” issue from a student who claimed that another student seemed to have “lupa kawan” (forgotten her friend) after becoming friends with Zara.
“During the counselling session on March 5, Zara was called together with the student who made the complaint.
“Zara, on the other hand, said she only wanted to be friends with the other student and that there was no other relationship, such as the ‘lesbian’ claim mentioned by other students.
“After listening to the expressions and explanations of both students, I provided counselling and advice regarding self-understanding, emotional management, and techniques for resolving conflicts maturely.
“The second counselling session was on March 14, where Zara was called together with two Form 1 students, referred to as Student A and another student.
“This session was conducted after the school received a complaint from Student A, who alleged that the other student had attempted to sniff Zara’s private area.
“Zara stated that the incident had been witnessed by Student A.
“The findings of the investigation and the group session revealed that the student was merely joking and had only sniffed Zara’s blanket while saying ‘bau pepek’.
“All three students were given the opportunity to provide their respective explanations, and after listening to all of them, I gave advice and counselling to the three students not to assume negative things without clear evidence,” said Miswati.
Miswati told the court that a “One Page Report” dated March 14 was prepared by the Discipline Unit along with the report of the counselling session that was conducted.
She further testified that besides calling Zara and the student who made the complaint, she also individually called the student who was close to Zara.
Miswati said the student explained to her that she and Zara were just friends and nothing more.
According to Miswati, after the counselling sessions, she advised the students to be friends sincerely.
In her summary, Miswati wrote that a misunderstanding had occurred, as the student who sniffed Zara’s blanket said she was only joking and had no intention of doing anything inappropriate.
Miswati told the coroner that the second counselling session was conducted following a complaint from Student A’s mother.
According to Miswati, she had conducted about 60 counselling sessions in 2025, including counselling sessions for the five students who were charged in the Court for Children.
She said the counselling for the five students was conducted before and after Zara’s incident.
“For Student A, before the incident, it was related to sexual harassment, transferring to another school, and missing items and money.
“For the other four students, the counselling after the incident was related to emotional issues because of the incident,” said Miswati, who is no longer serving at the school as she was moved to the State Education Department.
