THE security guard on duty the night of the incident involving the late Zara Qairina Mahathir told the Coroner's Court today that he tried to wake the teenager by calling her name while holding her cheek, but the victim did not respond.
Linah Mansoding @ Jaliha, 65, who described the condition of the Form One student at the time of the incident, said the victim was breathing heavily and loudly, as if "snoring."
The mother of four said this when answering a question from Zara Qairina's family lawyer, Shahlan Jufri, on the seventh day of the inquest proceedings regarding the teenager's death.
Shahlan: When you call Zara, does she respond at all?
"He was snoring like he was asleep... he was lying on his back, poor him," Linah recounted with a sad tone in front of Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
Linah also stated that the victim, who was found lying on their back in a drain, was not wearing shoes or a headscarf.
The sixth witness said the student was then moved from the scene to the front of the dormitory, in front of the warden's house, while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
The Head Warden of the dormitory, Azhari Abd Sagap, along with three senior students, moved Zara Qairina. "I was still there, and some female teachers were also with me. "We waited almost an hour because the ambulance was late," he said.
Linah said that when Zara Qairina was transferred into the ambulance, there were many blood droplets coming from the victim's left leg, in addition to her leg bone being exposed.
Proceedings resumed.
Zara Qairina, 13, passed away at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 17. She was admitted to the hospital the day after being found unconscious in a drain near her school dormitory in Papar at 4 am.
On August 13, the Attorney General's Department (AGC) ordered an inquest to be held after reviewing the investigation report submitted by the police, while previously, on August 8, the AGC issued an order to exhume Zara Qairina's grave to allow for an autopsy to be performed. - September 12, 2025
