Teachers terrified over online attacks after Zara incident, says witness

Ex-senior assistant tells inquest staff of SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha have deleted their Facebook accounts and are afraid to go out.

Zara Qairina Mahathir died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu on July 17, a day after she was found unconscious in a drain near her school dormitory in Papar. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 A witness told the Kota Kinabalu coroner’s court today that those working at SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha were afraid to go out in public after being attacked on social media over Form One student Zara Qairina Mahathir’s death.

Asnie Marjan, a former senior assistant for student affairs at the school, said many baseless accusations had been hurled online at the teachers.

“Many of the teachers have deleted their Facebook accounts. Some of them were afraid to go to the shopping mall, shops or market,” Berita Harian reported him as saying at the inquest into the teenager’s death today.

Asnie, who now works as an officer at the Papar education office, was responding to lawyer Shahlan Jufri, who represents Zara’s family.

He said the school administration had done its best in the matter, and as a senior teacher, he had tried to encourage his colleagues to carry on with their activities despite the attacks.

Asked by Shahlan if the school’s disciplinary programmes were effective in preventing bullying cases, Asnie said: “Yes, but there are isolated cases.

“We have 500 students with good performance records. We had around 600 students during my time there, and the programmes were seen to have had a positive effect. But it is impossible to produce perfect students,” he said.

Zara, 13, died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu on July 17, a day after she was found unconscious in a drain near her school dormitory in Papar. - FMT