KOTA KINABALU – A fourth voice recording, believed to capture a conversation between the late Zara Qairina Mahathir, 13, and her mother Noraidah Lamat, 45, has gone viral on social media.
The nearly two-minute-long clip is believed to be a continuation of a previous recording that surfaced on Monday.
In the recording, Zara was heard expressing concern about her friend, Yasmin, who she claimed was also a victim of harassment by a group of senior students, allegedly following earlier false accusations.
Zara told her mother that the students had no choice but to obey whenever summoned by the seniors.
“Mak, the problem is she couldn’t avoid it… That senior came looking for her in class, then told her, ‘You, go upstairs now.’ After that, the senior followed her from behind. How could she escape?
“Even Yasmin had to follow… As soon as she entered the class, she started crying, Mak.
“They called her for a long time… Almost an hour,” said Zara in the audio.
Zara also expressed fear of resisting or avoiding the seniors, worried she would be scolded.
She added that she once received an indirect warning, just a sharp look that made her feel threatened.
“Even that day, she glanced at me briefly and I was already scared… Let alone now,” she said.
Her mother, Noraidah, was heard advising Zara to come up with an excuse if she was ever summoned again.
However, the teen responded that doing so would only escalate the situation.
“Mak, the more I say things like that, the angrier she gets,” Zara replied.
Growing increasingly concerned, Noraidah suggested that Yasmin’s mother should report the matter to the school warden, identified in the recording as Cikgu Zabidi.
“According to what they say, if it involves the dorm, you can report it to the Head Warden,” she said.
The emotional exchange between mother and daughter has drawn attention online, especially as Zara’s death has been linked to allegations of bullying at the school.
Meanwhile, Hamid Ismail, the lawyer representing Noraidah, confirmed to Sinar that the fourth audio clip was an authentic recording of his client and her daughter.
Zara, a Form One student, was previously reported to have fallen from the third floor of a religious school dormitory in Papar on July 16 and was pronounced dead the following day at Queen Elizabeth I Hospital (HQEI).