THE Coroner’s Court spent more than two hours at the site where 13-year-old schoolgirl Zara Qairina Mahathir fell to her death from a dormitory last July 16.
The locus in quo inspection, held from 9.30am to 11.50am, involved forensic officers and fire and rescue personnel, who used mannequins to simulate possible scenarios of the fall from the third floor, about 10.5 metres high.
Three mannequins, each weighted to Zara’s approximate 53kg body mass, were used. Two demonstrated a free fall and a fall with “a slight push”, while a third was placed to illustrate where her head may have struck the cement floor near a drain.
The simulations also tested standing and sitting positions, taking into account a suspended grill above the ledge and the 122cm dormitory wall topped with a 38cm handrail.
Lawyer Ram Singh told reporters the mannequins were not perfect but helped visualise the mechanics of the fall.
“One was let to fall on its own, another with a little push. The third was to show exactly where the wound might have occurred on the cement floor…We tried all the possibilities — standing, sitting, with and without a push, so that everyone can be clear on the mechanics of the fall,” he told reporters after the crime scene visit.
He confirmed two washing machines were located at the site, a detail that fuelled online speculation but has been ruled out by a pathologist, who testified that Zara’s injuries were consistent with a fall.
The inquest, in its second week, has so far heard testimony from six witnesses.
Proceedings are scheduled to continue later in Kota Kinabalu. - September 11, 2025
