KOTA KINABALU, Sept 10 — The mannequin used to simulate the condition of the late Zara Qairina Mahathir, who is said to have fallen from the third floor of a school dormitory building, was brought to the inquest proceedings at the Coroner's Court today.
The dummy, wrapped in two brown packages, was opened by Crime Scene Investigation officer Inspector Maidon Bernadus from the Sabah police contingent headquarters, before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan on the fifth day of the inquest proceedings into the teenager's death.
The fifth witness showed the damaged condition of the mannequin, with both its left and right legs broken and its head torn off after being dropped from the third floor of the dormitory on August 3.
Yesterday, the witness told the court that he and his team conducted two simulations using the dummy, the first by dropping it vertically without any forward push, while the second with a minimal push forward.
Overall, the result of the first simulation was the closest to the position of the victim based on the initial investigation.
When questioned by lawyer Shahlan Jufri, representing Zara's family, Maidon said the simulation was made on the third floor following a briefing by the case's investigating officer Inspector Wong Yew Zhung.
“According to Inspector Wong’s initial investigation, the victim’s last known position (according to the witness) was believed to be in the (third-floor) toilet, facing the corridor,” he said.
Maidon told the court that the lower half of the dummy used in the simulation was wrapped with bricks secured with adhesive tape marked with a forensic label, adding that the bricks were selected because they were considered suitable to replicate the physical weight of the deceased, which was 53 kg.
In his witness statement, he said that the original weight of the mannequin was 10 kilogrammes, but additional weight was added using bricks to closely match the victim’s body weight.
When asked by Sahlan why a 180-centimetre-tall mannequin was used when Zara's actual height was 153 centimetres, Maidon said it was because he could not find one with the same height as the victim.
To another question by Sahlan, how could the height difference affect the centre of gravity and the distance of the fall, he replied, “I am not sure”.
After the witness completed giving his statement, the court ordered the mannequin to be kept in the possession of the police.
The inquest proceedings before Coroner Amir continue with the sixth witness, a security guard at SMK Agama Tun Datu Mustapha in Papar, Linah Mansoding @ Jaliha, 65, testifying.
Zara died on July 17 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital I 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.
