Zara subjected to verbal and online bullying, says child psychologist

 Noor Aishah Rosli tells inquest her findings are based on interviews with the teenager’s secondary school friends as well as a review of several documents.

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

PETALING JAYA:

A child psychologist told the Kota Kinabalu coroner’s court today her assessment found evidence that Zara Qairina Mahathir had been subjected to both verbal and online bullying.

Noor Aishah Rosli, 51, said her findings were based on interviews with Zara’s secondary school friends as well as a review of several documents, while she was preparing the teenager’s psychological autopsy profile.

She said no evidence of physical bullying was found, but there were indications that Zara, 13, had been subjected to verbal bullying, including name-calling, being ostracised, and cyberbullying through social media.

“She was labelled (and) ignored. There were writings about her on the wall, and she was also subjected to cyberbullying. However, I could not access all the content because it had been deleted,” Bernama reported her as saying during the inquest into Zara’s death today.

“Zara was also said to have told her mother about older girls who were mean to her. When she met them at a mall, they avoided her. The same thing happened during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration at school, making Zara feel uncomfortable.”

Aishah was responding to a question from lawyer Shahlan Jufri, representing Zara’s mother, Noraidah Lamat, about the psychological autopsy profile she prepared, including her assessment of the alleged bullying experienced by Zara.

She said Zara had enjoyed good relationships with her friends during primary school and was described as cheerful and generous, but issues related to bullying only emerged when she was in secondary school.

On Zara’s diary entries, Aishah said the use of harsh words directed at her mother could not be taken as an indication of their relationship, as diaries served as temporary emotional outlets during periods of distress.

She said there was also no evidence of hatred in their telephone conversations, as Zara often shared details of her daily life with her mother.

Aishah said the separation of Zara’s parents was also not a contributing factor to the difficulties the teenager faced, as she had never witnessed domestic violence and had instead grown up in a positive environment surrounded by people who cared for her, including her caregiver and other family members.

Earlier, while reading her witness statement, Aishah said information on Zara’s daily relationships, telephone communications, witness observations, developmental history and overall mother-daughter interactions did not strongly support the hypothesis that her relationship with her mother was the primary factor behind her death.

“I also assessed Zara’s relationship with her father. Although she did not live with him and he was not always physically present, Zara maintained communication with him through telephone calls and WhatsApp.

“The physical absence of a father cannot automatically be regarded as responsible for a failed sense of belonging, because a sense of belonging depends on the quality of interpersonal relationships experienced, and not merely on family structure,” she said.

She said there were also no records indicating that Zara had been diagnosed with a serious mental illness or had a history of psychiatric treatment consistent with a high risk of suicide.

Zara died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu on July 17 last year, a day after she was found unconscious near a drain at her school’s hostel in Papar.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers ordered her remains to be exhumed for a post-mortem on Aug 8 before announcing a formal inquest into her death on Aug 13.

Noor Aishah will continue with her testimony when the inquest continues tomorrow. - FMT