KOTA KINABALU, Jan 28 — A letter described as a “privacy letter” was among items belonging to Zara Qairina Mahathir that were received by a student, the Coroner’s Court heard.
Counsel Shahlan Jufri, who briefed the media yesterday, said the child deponent testified that, in addition to the privacy letter, she had also received a keychain and several pieces of paper.
“The deponent said that all the items were received from one of Zara’s friends. All the items were given by Zara through a third party who delivered them to the deponent.
“She further stated that there were several letters and papers, some of which were received before the incident, while others were received after,” Shahlan said.
He added that when questioned about one letter marked as a private letter, the deponent could not recall who had given it to her or whether it was received before or after the incident.
The deponent explained that after receiving the items, she gathered them and placed them in a white plastic bag.
She then handed the items to Ustazah Syukriah for temporary safekeeping and later intended to retrieve them, but by then, the items had already been handed over to the police.
Shahlan further said that the deponent testified she had received two pieces of paper from the same person and that after the incident, she underwent counselling sessions at school and met with a psychiatrist once, though no regular counselling schedule had been communicated to her.
The deponent said she chose not to keep Zara’s belongings temporarily because she felt uncomfortable, scared, and sad after the incident, especially since she had seen Zara before it occurred.
Regarding Zara’s personality, the deponent mentioned that based on her knowledge through friends, Zara was someone who liked attention and could be easily jealous.
Shahlan noted that the inquest will resume on Friday, with a new deponent, a teacher, set to testify before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan. — Daily Express
