Zara inquest: Witness denies being emotional, wanting authorities to be blamed

 

Zara Qairina Mahathir’s aunt who appeared at the inquest into the teen’s 2025 death, Nur Shira Abdullah (left) and the girl’s mother, Noraidah Lamat. NSTP/MOHD ADAM ARININ

KOTA KINABALU: Zara Qairina Mahathir's aunt, Nur Shira Abdullah, today denied that she wanted the school and police to be blamed for the girl's death.

When examined by conducting officer Mohd Fairuz Johari, the 71st witness testified that she only wanted the investigation into Zara Qairina's death to be conducted in a transparent manner.

Fairuz: Was your criticism against the investigating officer and the school the result of your emotional distress caused by the incident?

Nur Shira: No. I did not criticise them, I just wanted a transparent investigation.

The 46-year-old self-employed woman said the investigation was not transparent as police should write down a report when someone is lodging it.

"A report should be something that is written down and not like a chat session at a coffee shop.

"The policeman was just listening without writing or typing the report. The report was about the school principal allegedly stopping Zara's mother from making a police report," she said during the afternoon proceedings before coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.

When Fairuz asked whether she was aware of the police workload at that time, Nur Shira said: "It was not my duty to find out about it."

Fairuz: Do you know the standard operating procedures for a police investigation?

Nur Shira: I know the basics. When we lodge a police report, the policeman has to show his authority card, introduce himself and be ready to take down our report by handwriting or typing every word of the complaint.

Nur Shira said July 20 was the first time she and Zara Qairina's mother, Noraidah Lamat, made the report. On the same day, she returned to her home in Kuala Lumpur.

When Fairuz asked her whether her observation of Zara Qairina's body was affected by her emotions while at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Nur Shira, who admitted that she had no training in the medical or technical field, said her observations were made after her emotions had stabilised and that the situation at the hospital was no longer chaotic at the time.

Thirteen-year-old Zara Qairina died on July 17 last year, a day after being found unconscious at the bottom of a girls' dormitory building in SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha in Papar. - NST