KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu Children’s Court has granted the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s application to appear as a watching brief in the Zara Qairina Mahathir bullying case.
Sabah court officer Cindy Mc Juce Balitus confirmed Judge Elsie Primus approved the application during closed-door proceedings.
She stated that the prosecution has served 15 documents on the first child offender and 18 documents each on the other four child offenders under Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code.
An additional five documents will be served on all the child offenders at the next pre-trial case management scheduled for October 16.
The trial itself is set to proceed from December 9 to December 20.
Deputy public prosecutors Nor Azizah Mohamad, Nik Haslinie Hashim, and Deepa Nair Thevaharan represented the prosecution during the proceedings.
Four of the accused were represented by counsels Azhier Farhan Arisin, Abdul Fikry Jaafar Abdullah, Fareez Salleh, and Sylyester Kuan.
The remaining accused was represented by a legal team comprising Datuk Ram Singh, Joan Goh, and Prem Elmer Ganasan.
All five teenage girls were formally charged on August 20 in connection with the bullying of the late 13-year-old Zara Qairina.
They face a charge under Section 507C(1) of the Penal Code for allegedly using threatening, abusive, or insulting communication.
Zara Qairina died on July 17 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and was buried the same day at the Tanjung Ubi Muslim cemetery in Sipitang.
She had been admitted to the hospital a day earlier after being found unconscious near a drain at her school hostel in Papar.
The Attorney General’s Chambers ordered her remains to be exhumed for a post-mortem on August 8.
An inquest into her death was subsequently announced on August 13. – Bernama