KOTA KINABALU, Sept 17 — The head warden of SMK Agama Tun Datu Mustapha told the Coroner’s Court today that Form One student Zara Qairina Mahathir had never lodged any complaints about issues she may have faced while living in the school hostel.
Azhari Abd Sagap, 31, who is also Zara's Arabic teacher, told Coroner Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan that she was staying in the Qurratu Ayun hostel, located on the third floor of Rabiatul Adawiyah Block, along with 11 other students, and that the hostel is under his direct supervision.
“As her Arabic teacher and as the head warden, I never received any complaints from Zara Qairina regarding any problems she faced in the hostel,” he said while reading from his witness statement.
Recounting the events of July 16, Azhari said he received a distress call at 3.04am from the school’s security guard Linah Mansoding @ Jaliha, 65, informing him of an incident involving Zara.
“Upon arriving at the hostel building, I saw Zara Qairina lying unconscious in a drain. From my observation, she appeared to be breathing with a snoring-like sound. At that moment, five students and Linah were with me. I instructed them to move Zara to a flat, sheltered area, onto the cement surface,” he said.
While Zara was being moved, Azhari noticed blood stains on the edge of the drain and injuries on her ankle, which prompted him to immediately call the emergency number 991 at 3.17 am to request medical assistance.
After contacting the Assistant Principal for Student Affairs, he proceeded to the home of the school principal Ustazah Shaharoom Hashim, who lived nearby, to inform her of the incident.
Azhari said that he also tried to contact Zara's parents but was unable to reach them.
“I called 991 a second time at 3.47am. An ambulance arrived a little before 4am and rushed her to the hospital,” he said, adding that he also lodged a police report of the incident at the Kota Kinabalu district police headquarters.
Zara died on July 17 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital I in Kota Kinabalu and was buried at the Tanjung Ubi Muslim cemetery in Sipitang the same day.
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.
