THE mother of Zara Qairina Mahathir told the Coroner’s Court that she had never lodged a complaint with the school authorities although her daughter had told her about being teased, harassed and several incidents that occurred while she was staying at the hostel.
Noraidah Lamat said she had intended to inform the school about the matter, but Zara asked her not to do so as she was worried the situation would become worse.
She said among the things Zara had told her about were being teased by other students, comments on TikTok, her pail being hidden, her money being stolen, as well as incidents involving senior students.
The following is an excerpt from Noraidah’s testimony while answering questions from counsel Shahlan Jufri before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan on Wednesday:Shahlan: What happened to Zara at the hostel, for example, being teased by senior students. Did you inform the school authorities?Noraidah: So far, I have not informed them. But I did actually intend to inform them. However, Zara told me, “Mum, there’s no need to tell them. Later they will call me.”“I told Zara, ‘Zara, it’s the weekend, we will come early. Mum wants to tell the warden about those nasty comments on Zara’s TikTok. The ones making fun of Zara.
Saying Zara is pretending to be pretty, thinking she is pretty, calling her a pick-me, saying she is pretending to be a Badar.’”“There was also an incident where Zara’s pail was hidden. So when I said that, Zara said, ‘Don’t, Mum. Later they will do it again to Zara. They are big-bodied, Mum. Even Mum would not be able to beat them.’”Shahlan: So you never lodged a complaint with the school?Noraidah: Never.
Noraidah said she also did not lodge a complaint after Zara told her about an incident in which she was knocked into by a senior student while at the hostel.
Shahlan: As far as you remember, did Zara ever complain to you over the phone while she was at the hostel?Noraidah: Yes. There was an incident where she was knocked into by a senior girl, and that is in the phone recording when she called me.
Shahlan: Did you lodge a complaint with the school?Noraidah: I did not lodge a complaint. Because, for me, I was still thinking positively. The school is a religious school, a renowned school. It has a reputation. It was also my former school. So I did not think that they would be so serious about it at the school. So violent, I mean.
“Another thing, Zara told me that when they were angry, they would use abusive language, such as, ‘You’re so stupid.’ ‘Dog.’”Noraidah also told the court that Zara had been asked by senior students to fetch hot water and buy food from the canteen.
“There were two incidents. The first, Zara told me and her cousin during Hari Raya that she had been asked to fetch hot water for a senior girl who wanted to eat Maggi.
“The second, there was a Form Five senior girl who asked Zara to buy her food from the canteen. Zara told me about that. It was already difficult for her to find which class she was in and caused Zara to wander around for a long time,” she said.
