KOTA KINABALU: The mother of Zara Qairina Mahathir, Noraidah Lamat, did not want a post-mortem to be conducted on her daughter and refused to consent to it, despite being briefed on the matter, the Coroner’s Court was told today.
Investigating officer Insp Wong Yew Zhung said he had informed and explained to Noraidah, 46, at Queen Elizabeth Hospital that a post-mortem would be conducted to assist investigations into Zara Qairina’s death.
The 83rd witness in the inquest into the teenager’s death said he explained the post-mortem process to Noraidah again, but she remained adamant, replying: “I don’t want it. I want to bury her (Zara Qairina) immediately.”
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Wong said a photographer took several photographs during the meeting and at the hospital’s neurosurgery ward for record and documentation purposes.
“At that time, because Zara Qairina’s mother refused to allow a post-mortem to be conducted, and the cause of death had also been identified, no POL 61 form (document for a police application to conduct a post-mortem) was issued,” he said while reading his witness statement before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
Wong said Noraidah signed several documents on July 17, 2025, before Zara Qairina’s remains were handed over to the family for burial.
He said one of the documents was a Letter of Declaration Refusing a Post-Mortem on One’s Own Volition, in which she declared that she did not want a post-mortem to be conducted, did not suspect any criminal act in connection with the death, and would not request a post-mortem report from the hospital for medico-legal purposes, insurance claims or other claims.
Wong said Noraidah also signed a Death Notification and Remains Handling Form to acknowledge receipt of the remains, as well as a Letter of Declaration Confirming the Management of Remains Services, both dated July 17, 2025.
“After meeting Zara’s mother, I returned to my office to update the case. I arrived at my office at IPD Papar at 6.54 pm and received instructions to classify Zara’s death as a Sudden Death Report and to serve as the investigating officer in the probe,” he said.
Wong said he received a phone call from a doctor at 1.35 pm on July 17, 2025, informing him that Zara Qairina had been pronounced dead at 1.07 pm and that the student’s cause of death was “severe traumatic brain injury with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy”.
He rushed to the hospital with the duty photographer, arriving at 3.30 pm, and met a doctor beside Zara Qairina’s bed, where Noraidah was also present.
Zara Qairina died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 17, 2025, a day after she was found unconscious near a drain at her school hostel at 4 am.
The inquest is scheduled to resume later this afternoon.