KOTA KINABALU, Sept 4 — A forensic pathologist who conducted the post-mortem on Zara Qairina Mahathir told the Coroner's Court today that it was impossible to place the 13-year-old inside a washing machine.
Dr Jessie Hiu, 58, who has been with the Department of Forensic Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital here since 1998, said this was unlikely due to the deceased’s weight.
She said this when questioned by the conducting officer, Deputy Head of Prosecution II Datuk Badius Zaman Ahmad, on the second day of the inquest into the death of the Form One student.
Badius Zaman: Doctor, did you find any washing machines during your visits to the scene?
Dr Hiu: Yes, there was one, on the ground floor, opposite the staircase.
Badius Zaman: Doctor, do you know the size of the washing machine?
Dr Hiu: It was a domestic washing machine, not an industrial one.
Badius Zaman: Is it possible to put the victim into the washing machine?
Dr Hiu: I didn’t check the size of the drum. I was informed the deceased weighed 53 kg, and I don’t think the machine could operate with a 53-kg load.
The hearing before the Coroner, Sessions Court Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan, continues.
Zara Qairina, 13, was pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 17. She had been admitted a day earlier after being found unconscious in a drain near her school dormitory in Papar at 4 am.
On August 13, the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) announced that an inquest would be conducted into her death after reviewing the police investigation report. Earlier, on August 8, the AGC ordered the exhumation of Zara Qairina's remains to allow for a post-mortem examination.
