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THE 54th witness in the inquest into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir, teacher Nurul Syahadah Ibrahim, told the Kota Kinabalu Coroner’s Court today that her school carried out five internal investigations after the Form One student was discovered beneath the dormitory building on 16 July.
Nurul Syahadah, who personally conducted interviews with students, explained that the inquiries initially followed standard operating procedures (SOP) but were curtailed when the police assumed control of the case on the same day.
“Five internal investigations were carried out on 16 July, 17 July, 4 August and 13 August. Whoever was available would conduct the student interviews because we are bound by MMI ("Protecting Instructional Time" or Melindungi Masa Instruksional), which schedules teacher classroom duties,” she said before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
Asked by inquiry officer Mohd Fairuz Johari, Nurul Syahadah confirmed that no single person led the investigations, which were conducted collaboratively by the school’s disciplinary unit under SOP guidance.
“Initially, we followed SOP 137, taking oral and written statements on the first day, but the process was limited once the police took over on 16 July. The subsequent interviews on 17 July, 4, 5 and 13 August were taken solely for school records,” she explained.
The witness added that the interviews covered students from two dormitories and the five students who had last interacted with Zara.
She also confirmed that four written reports were produced as part of the internal investigation, two of which had been submitted as exhibits, with two more prepared later.
“The reports covered the initial findings on 16 and 17 July, and audio-related reports on 5 and 13 August, with one further report on 4 August after taking written statements from dorm A35 students involved in a spot check of the deceased’s locker,” she said.
Nurul Syahadah explained that the reports for 4, 5 and 13 August were only finalised on 26 November, as the school had previously been unaware of the need to prepare them for court submission.
Regarding the 4 August investigation, she clarified that it aimed to determine whether any students had rearranged the deceased’s belongings after the spot check, conducted both in writing and via interviews involving six students, alongside statements from three additional students who recreated events during questioning by Form Four pupils.
The inquest proceedings resumed at 2 pm, with Nurul Syahadah set to be cross-examined by legal representatives for Zara’s parents and the five students implicated in the case.
Zara Qairina was found unconscious under the dormitory building on 16 July and died the following day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital I - November 27, 2025