THE former head warden of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Tun Datu Mustapha, 31-year-old Azhari Abd Sagap, yesterday testified in the Coroner’s Court that a student had handed over a plastic package containing the personal notes of the late 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir.
Recalled as the eighth witness, Azhari explained that the student initially surrendered the package to dormitory warden Syukriah Fauzi, who then passed it to him. He subsequently handed the items over to the police.
“Everything in that plastic bag was from the student, who had received it from Zara Qairina,” Azhari said while responding to questions from lawyer Shahlan Jufri, representing Zara Qairina’s mother, Noraidah Lamat, before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
Azhari added that the student gave the package to Syukriah on the very day Zara Qairina passed away. He noted that he had never met the student in person but had contacted her to clarify when the items were given by Zara Qairina; however, the student could not recall the exact date.
He further testified that he had received Zara Qairina’s two earliest diaries on July 17, 2025, following a meeting at the school, which also involved discussions about matters concerning the late student, including images from two pages of her diary.
Shahlan told reporters that several child witnesses would be recalled during the inquest and that new witnesses, including a teacher, would also be called to testify.
Zara Qairina, 13, was found unconscious near a drain at her school hostel in Papar at around 4am and was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she died the following day.
The Attorney General’s Chambers ordered her remains to be exhumed for a post-mortem on August 8 before announcing a formal inquest into her death on August 13.
The inquest proceedings are scheduled to continue tomorrow in camera due to the involvement of child witnesses. - January 23, 2026
