KOTA KINABALU, Sept 18 — The inquest into the death of Form One student Zara Qairina Mahathir at the Coroner’s Court today turned emotional when a witness broke down while expressing his sadness over criticism from netizens who accused him and the school of remaining silent and protecting the student’s alleged bully or killer.
SMK Agama Tun Datu Mustapha's chief warden Azhari Abd Sagap, 31, could not hold back his tears as he addressed the allegations on the ninth day of proceedings before Coroner Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
Testifying as the eighth witness, he stressed that neither he nor the school had ever protected anyone, but had instead given full cooperation to the authorities by handing over all evidence and statements related to the case.
“If we had intended to protect Zara Qairina’s bully or killer, I would not have told the police officer about the alleged theft incident that occurred on the night of July 15. I informed the officer before Zara Qairina’s mother lodged her second police report.
“I personally liaised with the police. Whatever the police asked for, whoever they wanted brought to Papar, I complied, including handing over the audio recording of ‘Kak M’. I was also the one who told the police the identity of ‘Kak M’,” Azhari said.
He added that the teenager being referred to on social media as “Kak M” is not the real person in question.
Azhari said the student who was wrongly linked is, in fact, a well-behaved pupil who has consistently excelled, frequently taking part in the school’s Quran memorisation competition and ranked among the top three students in last year’s Academic Session Final Examination.
“The accusations against this student are extremely cruel, simply because she was the first person to find Zara Qairina unconscious in the dormitory in the early hours of July 16. If not for her, what would have happened to Zara Qairina? She might have lost her life at the scene,” he said.
The testimony was given in response to questions from lawyer Abdul Fikry Jaafar, representing four minors accused in the case.
The witness also expressed sadness over the criticism directed at him, emphasising that he had done everything possible to save Zara and had fully cooperated with the authorities by handing over all available evidence.
“Is this what I deserve? Is this what the school deserves? We have nothing to hide.
"We have disclosed everything, and all of it is my responsibility. I do not want Zara Qairina to be wronged. But right now, the school and I are the ones being persecuted.
“I was there…I waited until Zara Qairina was taken off the machine. I waited at the mortuary. I met and spoke with her mother at the hospital. I was there, at the funeral prayer, all the way to the cemetery. Is this what I deserve?” he asked.
Zara, 13, died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital I in Kota Kinabalu on July 17, a day after she was found unconscious in a drain near her school dormitory in Papar at 4am.
On August 8, the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) issued an order for the exhumation of her remains to enable a post-mortem to be conducted, and on August 13, ordered an inquest after reviewing the police investigation report.
