THE 53rd witness in the inquest into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir, Nur Shukriah Mohd Fauzi, recounted in court today that the late student’s father displayed visible emotion while asking his daughter to wake as medical staff prepared to remove her from life support.
“When we arrived, her father was at the end of the wall, in the corner of the room. But when the doctor said they would remove the oxygen, he came to the side of the bed, showing some emotion, and said, ‘Zara, wake up, Zara,’ something along those lines,” Nur Shukriah told the Coroner, Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
She also referred to her earlier statement regarding Zara’s mother, who was not present in the ward at the time.
“As I wrote in my statement, mama was resigned; Zara wanted to go, Zara is mama’s beloved child, a good child,” she added.
The witness, a 37-year-old discipline teacher at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Tun Datu Mustapha, also testified that the school principal had never received the full internal investigation report following Zara Qairina’s death.
Nur Shukriah explained that only verbal briefings were given to the principal, who she said was constantly occupied after the incident on 16 July, attending meetings at the Sabah Education Department and courses at the Institut Aminuddin Baki.
“After 17 July, the principal was always busy. In my view, the verbal information I provided was sufficient because the case was fully taken over by the police,” she stated, noting that the police became involved after the school warden lodged a report on 16 July.
Clarice Vyonne Conrad, representing Zara Qairina’s father, questioned why the internal investigation conducted on the morning of 17 July had not been formally submitted to the principal as the head of the school.
Nur Shukriah responded that the internal investigation merely sought to establish what occurred between 16 July and the time Zara was found on the lower floor of the dormitory.
A meeting on 17 July was convened to outline the chronology of events. Clarice pressed whether there had been any discussion to inform Zara’s mother of the incident, given that the internal investigation had already taken place.
Nur Shukriah confirmed that this had not been discussed, explaining, “In my view, the investigation that day was only to record preliminary statements and no final decision was made, so I felt it was unnecessary.”
She added that decisions about communicating with the parents rested with the school administration and the Deputy Senior Student Affairs Officer, who had the authority to make final determinations.
The inquest proceedings are set to continue. - December 4, 2025
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