THE father of the late Zara Qairina Mahathir told the Kota Kinabalu Coroner’s Court that he last saw his daughter in person in about 2017, after a disagreement with her mother led to him no longer living with them in Sipitang.
The 80th witness, Mahathir Mohd Hashim @ Marikin, 45, said he had since kept in touch with Zara through telephone calls and WhatsApp messages.
“The last time I saw Zara was around 2017 in Sipitang,” he said while reading his written statement before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
Mahathir said his marriage to Zara’s mother, Noraidah Lamat, was his second marriage and that Zara was their daughter.
He said he affectionately called her “Baby Zara”, while she called him “Babah”.
Mahathir said he began working in Kota Kinabalu in mid-2015 and, due to his work commitments, rented a room there after he stopped living with Zara and her mother in Sipitang.
“However, I still returned to Sipitang once or twice a month to see Zara and her mother, taking into consideration my financial constraints and inability to travel back and forth to Sipitang every week.
“Zara’s mother was solely responsible for caring for and raising Zara,” he said.
He said that, based on his observations while they were still living together, Zara was a cheerful child who enjoyed going to the beach and the sea.
He said Zara would often ask him to take her to the beach whenever he returned home.
Mahathir also recalled taking Zara and her mother on a holiday to a resort in Tuaran when he had extra money, allowing him to spend time with them.
“Zara also did not show any signs or conditions that caused me any concern,” he said.
Mahathir said he was in Beaufort when he received WhatsApp messages from Zara’s mother between 8am and 10am on July 16, 2025, informing him that Zara was in an emergency department.
He said her mother also sent him a photograph of Zara lying on a hospital bed, but he did not know which hospital she was in and had no information about the hospital.
“Therefore, after receiving the WhatsApp message from Zara’s mother, I immediately informed my father, Mohd Hashim @ Marikan Tuah, and asked him to look for Zara at Sipitang Hospital,” he said.
Mahathir said Sipitang Hospital was the first place they looked for Zara because, to his knowledge, she was living with her mother in Sipitang and he had always believed that Zara was attending secondary school there.
He said he had previously gone to their house in Sipitang but found that Zara and her mother were no longer living there. “I had also asked Zara several times during our previous telephone conversations about where she was living and attending school, but Zara did not tell me.
“Therefore, at that time, I assumed that Zara might be at Sipitang Hospital,” he said.
However, after his father went to Sipitang Hospital, Mahathir was informed that Zara was not there.
He then tried to locate Zara at Beaufort Hospital, but staff at the emergency department counter also told him that she was not there.
“I do not remember how I obtained information that Zara was at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (HQE), whether it was from Zara’s mother or based on my own assumption.
“I do not remember whether Zara’s mother told me or not. I rushed to HQE after learning that Zara was there,” he said.
Mahathir said he had previously been married to his first wife, but the marriage ended in divorce. - September 8, 2026
