Zara claimed she was disturbed by ‘tomboyish’ schoolmate, says witness

Zara Qairina Mahathir died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, on July 17, a day after she was found unconscious in a drain near her school’s hostel. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: A witness in the inquest into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir said the teenager claimed she had been disturbed by a “tomboyish” female student who was obsessed with her.

Lawyer Syarulnizam Salleh quoted the 32nd child witness as saying this during today’s proceedings conducted in camera before coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan at the Kota Kinabalu coroner’s court.

He said the witness, a close friend of Zara since primary school, said Zara told her the student had apparently disturbed her while she was sleeping, and once almost followed her into the bathroom when she was bathing.

“The witness also said that in June, Zara used the witness’s TikTok account to send a message to someone the witness did not know, telling the person not to disturb her in school or on TikTok,” Sinar Harian reported the lawyer as saying.

Syarulnizam also quoted the witness as saying that in May last year, the witness and Zara started taking turns to write in a shared diary.

“Besides the two of them, no one else was allowed to read it. The last time the witness saw the diary was in February 2025,” he said.

Syarulnizam and lawyers Shahlan Jufri, Rizwandean M Borhan, Luqman Syazwan Zabidi, Farrah Nasser and Elhanan James represent Zara’s mother, Noraidah Lamat.

Zara, 13, died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu on July 17, a day after she was found unconscious in a drain near her school’s hostel in Papar.

The inquest continues.