KOTA KINABALU, Sept 9 — The medical officer who pronounced Zara Qairina Mahathir dead told the Coroner’s Court today that the Form One student had the lowest level of consciousness in her final hours and was unable to breathe on her own.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital I's (HQE) Neurosurgery Department's Dr Pavankumar Balachandran, 32, said the prognosis was severely guarded, which means her chance of survival was extremely poor, and the 13-year-old was intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation.
The fourth witness was responding to queries by the conducting officer Deputy Chief Prosecutor II Datuk Badius Zaman Ahmad on the fourth day of the inquest into the teenager’s death.
He testified that Zara's initial neurological assessment showed a Glasgow Coma Scale (GSC) of E1VTM1, with fixed, dilated pupils, and absent brainstem reflexes.
“The patient’s level of consciousness was very low … the scale of E1VTM1 was the lowest level of consciousness,” Dr Pavankumar said.
When questioned by lawyer Datuk Ram Singh, who is representing a juvenile charged with bullying the deceased, he said he had called for a family conference, as such cases carry a very poor prognosis and outcome.
Ram: Am I correct to say that by the time you received Zara Qairina in the neurosurgery ward, you knew that she was going to die?
Dr Pavankumar: “Like I said before, I knew that such cases carry a very poor prognosis and outcome.”
He also clarified that the decision to conduct a post-mortem was a matter between the Forensic Medicine Department (mortuary) and the police.
When asked by Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan, if he was the one who pronounced the death of Zara on July 17, Dr Pavankumar replied: “Yes.”
He added that the teenager was admitted to the neurosurgery ward at 6.40pm on July 16, but showed no clinical improvement and died at 1.07pm the next day.
At the end of today’s proceedings, the court also heard testimony from Crime Scene Investigation Inspector Maidon Bernadus from the Sabah contingent police headquarters.
He said that on August 3, he and his team conducted two simulations using a mannequin — the first was dropped vertically from the corridor without being pushed, while the second was with minimal forward push.
The mannequin originally weighed 10 kg, but additional weight was added using bricks until it reached about 53 kg to resemble the deceased’s physical weight.
A video recording of the simulation was played in court, and the witness was instructed to bring in the mannequin that was used.
Zara died on July 17 at HQE in Kota Kinabalu, where she had been admitted a day earlier after being found unconscious in a drain near her school hostel in Papar at 4am.
On August 8, the Attorney General’s Chambers ordered her remains to be exhumed for a post-mortem, before announcing an inquest into her death on August 13.
The hearing continues tomorrow.
