PETALING JAYA: Queen Elizabeth Hospital (HQE) pathologist Dr Jessie Hiu has ruled out foul play in the death of 16-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir, concluding that she was neither pushed nor attacked before falling from the third floor of her school dormitory in the early hours of July 16.
Testifying on the second day of the inquest at the Coroner’s Court here, Dr Hiu said her findings were based on a detailed site inspection where Zara was discovered unconscious, New Straits Times reported.
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Deputy prosecution chief II Datuk Badiuszaman Ahmad, who is leading the inquest, asked Dr Hiu to clarify why it was unlikely that Zara had fallen accidentally or been pushed.
“Based on measurements taken at the site, it was not possible because the iron railing on the corridor wall was very high. She could not have fallen accidentally because of its height. If she had been pushed, the railing would have prevented her from falling,” Dr Hiu stated.
When asked about the most probable cause of the fall, she said, “As I explained and demonstrated at the site, she (the deceased) might have stood on the concrete wall and either jumped or swung herself while holding onto the hanging grille.”
Badiuszaman also sought confirmation that there had been no attack and that the cause of death was a fall from height. She affirmed, “Based on the site inspection, yes.”
Dr Hiu further confirmed that, based on Zara’s position and location on July 16, “she might have stood on the concrete wall and either jumped or swung herself while holding onto the hanging grille.
Dr Hiu also presented several photographs and explained a demonstration carried out with HQE medical officers to reconstruct the possible sequence of events leading to Zara’s fall.
The exercise aimed to assess whether the fall could have been accidental or the result of being pushed.
She further explained that the reconstruction considered Zara’s injuries and the position of her body when she was found.
The site inspection, conducted on Aug 2, involved HQE medical officers, three police personnel, and several school staff.
In court, Dr Hiu demonstrated how Zara might have landed feet first before collapsing backwards, eventually lying on her back with her face upwards.
