Papar: The mother of a child witness told the Coroner's Court here today that her daughter only shared her account of the incident involving Form One student Zara Qairina Mahathir after nearly three months, as she was traumatised.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the 41-year-old woman said her daughter, the 65th child witness in the inquest into Zara Qairina's death, shared further details of the incident with her in September and October last year. She later spoke to a teacher at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Tun Datu Mustapha, Papar, Ustazah Shukriah Fauzi, between January and February, to confirm if her daughter had also been interviewed about the incident.

The mother recounted that her daughter expressed feelings of fear and guilt, which caused her to delay speaking up. The daughter initially mentioned Zara Qairina had fallen from the hostel building and asked her mother to pray for her. It was only after nearly three months that more details emerged.

In her testimony, the woman explained that her daughter had plans to meet a friend at Block A of Rabiatul Adawiyah but fell asleep. Waking around 1 am, she saw a female student on the third floor of Block A and realized it was Zara Qairina. She led Zara into a room before returning to her own room.

The child witness's mother noted that her daughter was questioned by police at school and shared everything she knew, despite feeling intimidated during the questioning. Following the incident, the daughter became withdrawn and felt responsible for not speaking to Zara before the tragedy.

After learning about her daughter's account, the mother contacted a school teacher to report the matter and gave her statement to the police. Lawyer Shahlan Jufri, representing Zara Qairina's mother, explained that the child witness came forward out of fear of being misunderstood.

Proceedings continue tomorrow. Zara Qairina, 13, died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 17, 2025, a day after being found unconscious in a drain near her school dormitory. The Attorney General's Chambers ordered the inquest and a post-mortem was conducted following a review of the police investigation.