A child witness told the Coroner’s Court she volunteered to find Zara Qairina’s diary, briefly flipping through two diaries before handing them to a teacher.
KOTA KINABALU: A child witness testified that she volunteered to help search for Zara Qairina Mahathir’s diary after other students were too afraid to do so.
The 28th witness, who shared a dormitory with Zara Qairina, gave testimony on the 32nd day of the inquest into the teenager’s death.
Lawyer Mohd Syarulnizam Mohd Salleh, representing Zara Qairina’s mother, said the witness heard students inform a teacher about the diary around 11.15 am on July 16.
When asked to retrieve it, none of the students dared to volunteer.
The witness then accompanied a female teacher to Zara Qairina’s dormitory block, but only the witness entered the room while the teacher waited downstairs.
“In Zara Qairina’s room, the witness tried to open several students’ lockers, but all were locked except for one believed to belong to her,” Mohd Syarulnizam told reporters.
Upon opening it, the witness saw clothes hanging inside bearing Zara’s name.
She checked a black bag and found two diaries in its main compartment.
One diary was green with ‘Love and Peace’ written on it, while another was purple with ‘Simple Style’ on the cover.
The witness confirmed she was alone in the room and admitted briefly flipping through both diaries without reading their contents in detail.
She then handed the diaries to a female teacher after returning to the surau.
The witness saw the teacher reading part of the contents in front of other students before putting them away.
“She did not know the real purpose for which they were asked to search for the diary,” said Mohd Syarulnizam.
The witness also could not recall whether Zara Qairina had written any specific notes in it.
Meanwhile, lawyer Datuk Ram Singh, representing one of the teenagers involved in Zara Qairina’s bullying case, said the same witness testified she did not witness any incident on the night of July 16.
She only woke up at about 4.50 am to get ready for school.
Zara Qairina, 13, was confirmed dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital here on July 17.
She was found unconscious in a drain near her school dormitory at about 4 am on July 16.
The inquest will resume tomorrow. – Bernama
