Zara was accused of stealing money, inquest told

KOTA KINABALU: Form One student Zara Qairina Mahathir was accused of stealing money a day before she was found unconscious on the ground floor of her school dormitory in Papar on July 16, the inquest into her death heard.

Security guard Linah Mansoding @ Jaliha, 65, said that at about 8pm on July 15, a student claimed to have lost her bank card as well as RM300 in cash.

Linah said the student accused Zara Qairina of stealing the money and that the matter was also reported to Form Four students who were dormitory monitors.

“After the complaint, the student called Zara Qairina to meet, but I am not sure what happened after that.

“It is possible that she was taken to attend an ‘MA meeting’,” she said in her witness statement on Friday (Sept 12).

“MA” is a term for a meeting involving senior and junior students in the dormitory, supposedly to reprimand students for disciplinary issues.

However, Linah said the MA system was stopped in 2017 aftr it was used by seniors to pressure junior students.

Linah, the sixth witness, testified in the Coroner’s Court that the school warden was informed of the alleged theft, but added she was unsure if any follow-up action was taken.

“During my time in this dormitory, I only know of three ‘MA’ sessions.

“Any problem should be reported to the teacher, but in this case, senior students took it upon themselves to call up their juniors. That is why ‘MA’ was banned,” she added.

Earlier in her testimony, she told the court that she found Zara Qairina “inhaling and exhaling loudly” when she found the girl on the ground floor.

During questioning by Zara Qairina’s family’s lawyer, Shahlan Jufri, she said she tried to awaken Zara by holding her and calling her name.

“She seemed to be sleeping… she was lying on her back, I felt sorry for her,” Linah said when asked about the child’s condition.

She said Zara Qairina was lying in a drain and was not wearing her shoes or headscarf.

She said that subsequently, the dormitory head Azhari Sagap and three senior students moved Zara Qairina to the front of the warden’s house and waited for an ambulance that arrived about an hour later.

Asked if she had ever interacted with Zara Qairina, Linah said she had done so twice, once over a TikTok video and another time when the girl was doing her laundry at night.