FORENSIC psychiatrist Dr Chua Sze Hung told the Coroner’s Court in Kota Kinabalu today that he had considered positive aspects of Zara Qairina Mahathir’s diary when assessing the teenager’s psychological profile.
Dr Chua, who was recalled as a witness, said the diary contained entries about casual interactions between Zara Qairina and her friends, while much of it focused on her life at school.
Responding to questions from Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan, he said the diary was reviewed to help the court understand the psychological characteristics that could have contributed to risk factors involving Zara Qairina.
“The reason the diary was listed as such was so that I could assist the court and show what psychological characteristics within Zara Qairina actually contributed to the risk factors.
“Yes, I also took the positive aspects into account,” he said.
Asked whether he had assessed the diary by comparing the proportion of positive and negative entries and whether this influenced his assessment, Dr Chua said numerical scoring was not useful in psychology and psychiatry.
“It does not help to give numerical scores when it comes to psychology and psychiatry because we need to understand the finer details and the descriptive picture of a person’s psychological characteristics and context.
“I can say there were various vulnerabilities, and many significant vulnerabilities for me, as I have listed.
“The trauma described and the pain portrayed were significant in my view, particularly when it reached the point where the deceased prayed for her own death and that of others.
“So yes, I took these factors into account,” he said.
Amir Shah then asked whether the positive aspects of the diary had been included in Dr Chua’s report.
Amir Shah: “But in the interest of fairness to the deceased as well, you did not include the entries or comments about the positive aspects in your report, correct?”
Dr Chua: “I included one or two sections about it, explaining the adaptation to the new environment and the dynamics of that environment, but not in its entirety.”
Dr Chua was also questioned about the possibility of bias in information provided by witnesses.
Asked how information or accounts could be verified or supported by independent sources, he said multiple sources would be sought, where possible, to corroborate the information.
He said any information that came from only one source would be recorded as such.
Dr Chua said the structure of a person’s narrative would also be examined, including its logical structure, disorganised presentation, admissions of not remembering something, unnecessary details and unexpected complications in the account.
“It is of course impossible to eliminate 100 per cent of bias,” he said.
When asked whether he knew that some of the peer informants had also been investigated in connection with the incident, Dr Chua said he became aware of the matter during the interview process.
Zara Qairina, 13, was found unconscious on the ground floor of her school hostel on July 16, 2025, and was pronounced dead the following day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. - September 9, 2026
