Kota Kinabalu: The Coroner heard that Zara Qairina Mahathir showed changes in her behavior two days before she was found unconscious at the SMK Tun Mustapha school hostel.
Counsel Joan Goh, together with counsel Datuk Ram Singh, told the media on Tuesday that the Form Two noticed unusual behavior in Zara compared to how she normally knew her.
“The first time she noticed the change was on July 14, 2025, two days before the incident, during school hours. Zara did not behave as usual and interacted less with the deponent.
“On July 15, 2025, it was also the last time the student spoke to Zara before the night of the incident, between 9.30am and 10am. At that time, she saw Zara was walking to her class and noticed that Zara did not look like herself.
“Her face was gloomy, less cheerful, and she spoke little. The deponent called out to Zara by name. Zara turned to her and gave only a brief smile before continuing on without saying anything.
“The deponent said the behavior was very different from before, when Zara would always respond and chat normally whenever she was addressed.
“Throughout their acquaintance, this was the first time Zara ignored the her greeting. After that, she saw Zara a few more times, but they did not speak, and did their own activities.
“She assumed Zara might be busy and did not want to disturb her. However, her behavior that day clearly indicated that she was in a different state than usual.
“Previously, the deponent said Zara could control her emotions even when sad. But at that time, her condition was very different and showed stronger signs of stress.
“This change in behavior made the deponent feel that something was wrong because Zara’s mood did not match the cheerful, sociable, and playful personality she knew,” Goh said.
Goh further explained that the child deponent stated that Zara had, on several occasions, expressed negative thoughts about herself and her situation.
“For example, Zara had previously said she wanted to commit suicide in a tone that seemed playful. She often expressed this desire in front of the child deponent and another friend. They thought she was joking a ‘dark joke’.
“She also said Zara once mentioned wanting to make a ‘barcode’ in front of her and the friend. To the child deponent, ‘barcode’ meant cutting her hand. She said she never actually saw any barcode marks on Zara,” said Goh.
According to the child deponent, Zara never spoke in detail about her family background. Whenever she and her friends asked, Zara would change the subject.
The child deponent said Zara appeared uncomfortable when asked about her family. For example, when asked about her relationship with her mother, whether close or not, she only made a displeased face.
According to the child deponent, although she met and spoke to Zara on July 16, 2025, in front of the Level 3 toilet at the hostel block A, she only told her mother about it two to three months after the incident.
“The deponent asked her mother not to tell anyone about what had happened because she felt scared and was not ready to talk. After telling her mother, she called a teacher of the school, Ustazah Shukriah Fauzi. After that, she gave a statement to the police.
“The child deponent also shared the matter during a meeting with other students at the Block B hostel, in which a female police officer questioned her about the incident.
“The female officer asked what the deponent knew, and she told her everything. Then the officer raised her voice, asking why she had gone to Block A hostel at midnight, which made her cry.
“A male police officer then intervened, and she recounted the incident to him.
“However, the officers did not record anything. She could no longer identify the two police officers,” Goh added.
