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THE Kota Kinabalu Coroner’s Court hearing the inquest into the death of teenager Zara Qairina Mahathir was today shown photographs and video footage of the late student smiling and cycling with another girl in Sipitang just days before the incident that led to her death.
The digital evidence was presented by Assistant Superintendent Mohd Zaidi Abu Hassan, the 70th witness in the proceedings, who told the court he had been instructed to extract and analyse data from a mobile phone identified as exhibit WF1, confirmed to belong to Zara Qairina.
Mohd Zaidi said he had examined 15 mobile phones as part of the investigation and verified that one device belonged to the Form One student.
During cross-examination by lawyer Datuk Ram Singh, the court was shown a photograph and video recorded on July 12, 2025, depicting Zara Qairina and another girl riding a surrey tandem bicycle while smiling.
“Based on this photo, you can see both persons smiling. Is there any indication that the smiling faces were edited, or are they original?” New Straits Times quoted Ram asking.
“Based on my experience, they were neither edited nor tampered with. They are original,” Mohd Zaidi replied.
The proceedings also revealed messages allegedly received by Zara Qairina from a contact saved as “Z” on July 12 at 1pm and 7.39pm.
One message read: “Remember, even breath must eventually be exhaled again.” (“ingat, bahkan nafas juga harus dihembuskan Kembali.”)
Another message stated: “Heaven and hell are both for sinners. The difference is that hell is for sinners who are stubborn, while heaven is for sinners who repent. We are indeed sinners, but if we repent, heaven can also be our place.” (“Syurga dan neraka dua dua untuk pendosa, Bezanya neraka untuk pendosa yang degil, syurga untuk pendosa yang bertobat, kita memang pendosa, tetapi jika bertobat, syurga juga tempat kita, ya.”)
The court was additionally shown several short video clips dated March 9, 2025, extracted from another mobile phone marked as exhibit W9, showing a group of girls inside a dormitory room fitted with double-decker beds.
Ram, who is representing one of five minors accused of verbally abusing Zara Qairina, also questioned the forensic officer regarding the scope of the phone analysis and whether it had been guided by a police case summary.
He referred to a summary indicating that medical findings had ruled out criminal elements and identified the cause of death as a “severe traumatic head injury with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy” resulting from a strong impact to the head.
“When you received this phone, and you knew the cause of what happened to M1 — M1 being Zara Qairina — what exactly were you looking for from a forensic point of view?” Ram asked.
Mohd Zaidi replied that his role was limited to extracting data, including photographs and videos, based on instructions issued by investigating officers, and that he did not rely on the case summary.
Earlier in the proceedings, Mohd Zaidi told lawyer Clarice Vyonne Conrad, representing Zara Qairina’s father Mahathir Mohd Hashim, that the extracted data could not identify the owners of phone numbers found within the devices.
When asked how he managed to access locked devices, he said passwords and PIN numbers had been provided by investigating officers.
He also explained that deleted and existing files were differentiated using XRY forensic software.
Separately, Bernama reported that the court heard medical testimony from Dr Janefer Voo, a medical officer from the Emergency and Trauma Department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, who said no bruises or signs of physical abuse were found on Zara Qairina’s body when she was admitted on July 16.
“The examination results found that there were no bruises or signs of abuse on the patient's body. However, it indicated that she was suspected to have suffered severe brain injuries and internal bleeding,” she said while reading her witness statement.
“Due to the victim’s critically low blood pressure, it was suspected that the teenager had sustained internal injuries caused by a high-impact force, which resulted in internal bleeding,” she added.
Dr Janefer told the court that Zara Qairina arrived unconscious and that a trauma alert had immediately been activated at 4.42am to enable urgent intervention from neurosurgery, orthopaedics, surgery and anaesthesiology specialists while resuscitation efforts were carried out simultaneously.
The inquest proceedings are scheduled to continue this afternoon. - May 18, 2026
