THE late Zara Qairina Mahathir was the target of accusations from classmates after a student reported the loss of money despite no evidence being found during a surprise inspection.
The teacher, Mohd Sham M Nasir, 27, who testified before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan, said he advised students not to accuse anyone without evidence.
Recalling the incident on July 14 last year when he was teaching in Zara's class, the 16th witness said he noticed a student looking sad and like she wanted to cry during his class.
When asked why, he said, the student said she lost RM20 while on her way to the science laboratory.
Mohd Sham asked the class if anyone knew who was the last to leave the classroom, but no students answered so he conducted a surprise check on all students present that day, including Zara.
The check involved the students' school bags, wallets and pockets, while the female students were checked by the assistant class teacher.
The process took between 10 and 15 minutes and no missing money was found before Mohd Sham continued teaching as usual.
However, while he was packing up to leave the class, the student who had lost the money handed him a small piece of paper.
"When I opened it, the name 'Zara' was written on the paper. I immediately advised the student not to make accusations without evidence, but two other students supported the allegations," he said when reading his witness statement today as reported by Berita Harian.
According to him, one student claimed that Zara had been involved in a similar incident before, while another student, known as 'Student A', said that she had also lost money before and suspected Zara.
Mohd Sham said that some students remained silent, while others openly discussed the allegations.
He said he was sure the two students were aware of the matter, even though the student who lost the money did not mention Zara's name verbally, but instead only handed over a small piece of paper with her name on it.
Mohd Sham believed Zara could hear the conversation because she was sitting nearby, but he avoided looking at her to avoid making the deceased feel uncomfortable.
After reciting the closing prayer to end the class, he added, Zara seemed calm and did not show any noticeable reaction and when leaving the class, several students gathered and again accused Zara of stealing, while repeating the claim that the deceased had done it before.
"I once again advise them not to accuse anyone without evidence," he said, adding that he returned to work as usual the next day, which was on July 15, 2025 and left school at 1.30 pm after finishing his duties. – January 30, 2026
