KOTA KINABALU: The pathologist who performed the post-mortem on Form One student Zara Qairina Mahathir testified that determining whether her death was suicide remains a matter for the court to decide.
Dr Jessie Hiu, a 58-year-old forensic specialist from Queen Elizabeth Hospital, maintained this position under repeated questioning from lawyer Datuk Ram Singh during the coroner’s inquest.
Ram Singh, representing a juvenile charged with bullying the deceased, asked whether Zara Qairina could have fallen on her own without being pushed or involved in an accident.
Dr Hiu consistently responded that such determinations fall within the court’s jurisdiction rather than her medical expertise.
The pathologist acknowledged the decomposed body had a noticeable odour when questioned, though Zara Qairina’s family legal team objected to this line of inquiry as irrelevant.
Coroner Sessions Court Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan sustained the objection and halted further questions about the body’s condition.
A child-sized mannequin was presented in court to help Dr Hiu demonstrate the six injury locations found on Zara Qairina’s body during examination.
The marked areas included the back of the head, palm, back of the forearm, back of the elbow, right ankle, and left foot.
Dr Hiu has served with the Department of Forensic Medicine at Queen Elizabeth Hospital since 1998, bringing extensive experience to the case.
The hearing will resume on Monday as the inquest continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the 13-year-old’s death.
Zara Qairina was pronounced dead on July 17 after being found unconscious in a drain near her Papar school dormitory the previous day.
The Attorney General’s Chambers ordered both the exhumation of her remains on August 8 and the subsequent inquest after reviewing police investigation reports. – Bernama