Zara Qairina inquest: Lawyers for her mother seeks to call own psychiatric expert after forensic report points to suicide

KOTA KINABALU, April 4 — The legal team representing the mother of the late Zara Qairina Mahathir plans to call their own psychiatric expert witness to provide a more balanced evaluation during the ongoing inquest.

This comes after forensic psychiatrist Dr Chua Sze Hung told the Coroner’s Court yesterday that the circumstances surrounding the 13-year-old Zara Qairina’s death were most consistent with suicide.

“It is important to stress that the Coroner’s Court is the authority tasked with assessing all testimony and making findings based on all evidence presented throughout this inquest.

“Therefore, any preliminary conclusions drawn from the testimony so far are inappropriate and risk misleading public perception about the ongoing proceedings,” the team was quoted by Berita Harian as saying in a joint statement today.

They added that the 84-page psychiatric report by Dr Chua, among the testimonies and reports presented so far, formed only part of the evidence and has not yet been fully tested in court.

They also noted that a number of other witnesses, including character witnesses familiar with Zara Qairina, have yet to testify.

“It is important to emphasise that the Coroner’s Court is the authority responsible for evaluating all the evidence and making findings based on the entirety of what is presented during the inquest,” the team added.

The lawyers stressed that the public should exercise caution when commenting on the case, as speculative remarks could add to the family’s emotional burden.

They said Zara Qairina’s mother, Noraidah Lamat, is closely following the proceedings to ensure that the truth is determined by the court.

In his testimony, Dr Chua who is from Hospital Mesra Bukit Padang here was reported to have said that Zara Qairina displayed more dominant risk factors for suicide than protective factors at the time of the incident.

The 67th witness said he had prepared, signed, and stamped an 84-page psychiatric report dated February 2 for the court, focusing on the likelihood of suicide and the circumstances relating to the 13-year-old girl.

Among the materials and documents reviewed were Zara Qairina’s diary; the location of the incident; the autopsy report by consulting forensic pathologist Dr Jessie Hiu; counseling reports; visits to Zara Qairina’s dormitory; and interviews with family members, staff of SMK Agama Tun Datu Mustapha, and the victim’s primary school.

The information indicated emotional disturbances, extreme anger, self-harming behavior, unstable interpersonal relationships, and fear of being abandoned.

But Dr Chua was also reported saying that these materials so far were insufficient to make a retrospective diagnosis of a personality disorder.

The inquest is scheduled to resume from April 13 to 17.