Zara Qairina Inquest: Two More Experts To Testify

KOTA KINABALU, March 31 (Bernama) -- The inquest proceedings into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir will continue with testimony from two more expert witnesses, comprising medical specialists, in sessions scheduled to take place in April.

Lawyer Shahlan Jufri, representing Zara Qairina’s mother, said the next witness to be called was Dr Chua Sze Huang, a psychiatrist at Hospital Mesra, Bukit Padang here, who is set to testify this Thursday.

He said Dr Chua was expected to present findings from an 84-page psychiatric report on Zara Qairina’s condition prior to the tragic incident on July 16 last year.

“That is a report from a psychiatric specialist on Zara’s condition after interviewing her parents and several others. The report has been prepared, and we received it on March 5.

“We have requested some time to question the doctor, possibly within this month after Thursday, as we need to examine the report in detail,” he told reporters after the inquest proceedings here today.

Shahlan said another witness, pathologist Datuk Seri Dr Phupinder Singh, was also scheduled to testify in the next inquest session.

He said this week’s proceedings would continue until Thursday before resuming from April 13 to 17.

Zara Qairina, 13, died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 17, 2025, a day after she was found unconscious in a drain near the dormitory of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Tun Datu Mustapha, Papar.

On Aug 13, 2025, the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) ordered the inquest after reviewing the police investigation report, while on Aug 8, 2025, the AGC issued an order to exhume the girl’s body to enable a post-mortem to be conducted.

-- BERNAMA