KOTA KINABALU: Noraidah Lamat has denied claiming that her daughter, Zara Qairina Mahathir, might have been murdered.
She was responding to questions from lawyer Abdul Fikry Jaafar Abdullah, who represented Students B, C, D and E, during the inquest into Zara's death.
Fikry suggested that Noraidah's belief that Zara might have been murdered stemmed from bruises she had noticed on her daughter's body.
"I never said that. I am still waiting for the police report to this day. There was no clear explanation until this case was brought to court," she told coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
Asked whether the bruises were among the reasons she could not accept the possibility that Zara had taken her own life, Noraidah replied: "I only asked the police to investigate the matter."
Noraidah said she was unsure whether the marks were injuries or signs of blows. She said she noticed the dark red marks while helping to bathe Zara's body on July 17, 2025.
She subsequently lodged a police report at the Sipitang district police headquarters, requesting further investigation into the marks.
Fikry then referred to a media statement issued through Noraidah's family lawyers on Aug 3, 2025, which had led the public to believe that Zara had been struck by another person with a blunt object.
Asked to explain the statement, Noraidah said: "That is why we asked the investigators to conduct a transparent investigation and inform us of their findings, rather than leaving us wondering without any information."
"Anyone could believe that. But if the investigating officers had provided an explanation earlier, I am sure the matter would have been clarified, and the public would not have had to form various negative perceptions," she said.
Zara was found unconscious on the ground floor of her school hostel on July 16, 2025.
She was pronounced dead the following day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
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