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THE disciplinary unit of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Tun Datu Mustapha never informed principal Shaharoom Hashim about the existence of a written statement produced during the internal investigation into the death of student Zara Qairina Mahathir.
As the inquest continued today, conducting officer Mohd Fairuz Johari asked whether she had ever been informed by the school administrator about the document containing statements from five students regarding what happened on the night of July 15.
The 47th witness, who was recalled after the proceedings were adjourned for a month, said she knew that the school had conducted two internal investigations on July 16 and 17, reported Berita Harian.
"For the investigation on July 16, I was informed verbally in the early morning of July 17.
I was told that on July 16, an investigation was conducted at the surau, where the students were interviewed.
"However, the disciplinary unit never informed me about the written statement," she said during her evidence before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
On November 25 last year, an Arabic teacher from the school revealed that documents containing the student's statement about the incident were kept by the school's disciplinary unit and were not disclosed to any authorities, including the police.
Shaharoom said the school's former head warden, Azhari Abdul Sagap, had informed her of the existence of the written statement.
However, she explained to lawyer Shahlan Jufri that she only learned about the written statement during the inquest, which began on September 3 last year.
At the proceedings, Shahlan represented Zara's mother, Noraidah Lamat.
The witness said she was transferred to the Sabah State Education Department three weeks after Zara was found unconscious on July 16 at the school dormitory.
During the period in question, Shaharoom said she did not have the opportunity to read the statement in question because she was busy managing matters at the hospital, forensic procedures and receiving visits from authorities.
The principal also said that she had made a verbal report to a representative of the Sabah State Education Department during their visit to the school on July 18.
She also testified that she had received a scanned copy of Zara's diary via WhatsApp message.
The former principal also stated that she had met Noraidah twice.
Shahlan: You already know what happened. Why didn't you inform Zara's mother about it?
Shaharoom: During our visit to Zara's mother's house and at the hospital, the information given to me was related to the chronology of the case, which her mother was already aware of. – January 21, 2026