KOTA KINABALU – The inquest into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir resumes at the Coroner’s Court here on Tuesday.
Proceedings, which began at 9am, heard testimony from a new witness involving a child as the 64th deponent.
Lawyer Shahlan Jufri said the inquest continued this week with several witnesses, including children.
“Today, there is one child witness, followed by adult witnesses, including a consultant psychiatrist from the Health Ministry.
“If the child witness is completed today, it may proceed with adult witnesses,” he told Sinar Harian.
In previous proceedings, a total of 64 witnesses, including children, had testified at the same court.
Zara Qairina, 13, was found unconscious on July 16 last year before being pronounced dead the following day at Hospital Queen Elizabeth here.
The legal team representing Zara Qairina’s mother, Noraidah Lamat, included Rizwandean M Borhan, Mohd Syarulnizam Mohd Salleh, Mohd Luqman Syazwan Zabidi, Farrah Nasser and Elhanan James, in addition to Shahlan.
Lawyers representing her father Mahathir Mohd Hashim were Sherzali Herza Asli, Nurul Rafeeqa Afdul Mutolip and Clarice Vyonne Conrad.
Also representing five other students involved in the inquest were Datuk Ram Singh, Joan Goh and Prem Elmer Ganasan for student A, while another four students were represented by Azhier Farhan Arisin, Abdul Fikry Jaafar Abdullah and Sylvester Kuan.
The prosecution team comprised Sabah Prosecution director Nahra Dollah, along with deputy public prosecutors Mohd Fairuz Johari, Dana Arabi Wazani, Sofia S Sawayan and Dacia Jane Romanus.