GEORGE TOWN, July 4 — The Coroner’s Court here was told today that the Form Two student M. Vasanthapiriya was not beaten or scolded when she was questioned over a missing mobile phone.

Teacher R. Raymala, 48, (the owner of the phone) said she did not directly accuse Vasanthapiriya of stealing the phone but had asked whether or not she had entered the staff room.

She said Vasanthapiriya repeatedly told her that she did not enter the room.

Raymala is the eighth witness of the inquest into the death of Vasanthapiriya, who was found hanged, believed to have been humiliated, after she was accused of stealing the teacher’s mobile phone.

The witness, who is also one of Vasanthapiriya’s teachers at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Methodist Nibong Tebal, said the student later admitted that she had taken the phone after another teacher, S. Paramasivam, 47, showed her a video footage which caught a glimpse of the student in the staff room.

Earlier, another witness, Dr Amirul Adib Ahmad Zakhi, 29, who is also a medical officer at Sungai Bakap Hospital, said that Vasanthapiriya was found to have scars on the neck and left wrist.

Hearing before coroner Norsalha Hamzah continues Friday.

Vasanthapiriya died at the Seberang Jaya Hospital Intensive Care Unit at 3.35am on February 1. — Bernama