Kota Kinabalu: A consultant forensic psychiatrist disagreed with suggestions that Zara Qairina Mahathir could have taken her own life even without the alleged confrontation at her seniors’ dormitory, the Coroner’s Court heard on Friday.
Dr Chua Sze Hung, 43, said he did not find any other trigger or destabilising factor on the night of the incident apart from the interrogation allegedly faced by Zara at the dorm.
Testifying before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan, Dr Chua said suicide risk factors are dynamic and can either improve or worsen depending on a person’s circumstances and surrounding environment.
“The suicide is dynamic and it would be hypothetical,” he said in response to questions from counsel Abdul Fikry Jaafar Abdullah.
When asked by Fikry whether Zara could still have committed suicide due to another trigger or destabilising factor even without the confrontation, Dr Chua replied: “I disagree. I did not find any other trigger or destabilising factor on that night or morning other than the issue in the said dorm.”
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Dr Chua agreed that Zara had multiple predisposing suicide risk factors before the confrontation but maintained that they were insufficient on their own to result in suicide without a direct triggering factor.
“Yes, Zara has multiple predisposing suicide risk factors but it was inadequate for a suicide to occur without direct factors such as the interrogation in the said dorm,” he said.
The court heard that the estimated confrontation took place between after 9pm and before midnight following Zara’s return to the hostel, while she was later found lying on the ground at around 3am.
Dr Chua estimated the duration between the confrontation and the incident to be about three to four hours.
Agreeing that the manner of death was consistent with suicide, Dr Chua explained that Zara did not immediately take her own life after the confrontation but had shown signs of severe emotional distress afterwards.
“According to the timeline, after the confrontation, Zara returned back to her dorm. She was crying profusely in a manner her friends have not seen before,” he said.
He added that Zara later approached several friends asking for a pair of scissors before leaving the room and was subsequently seen in the toilet by other students.
“The nearest most direct factor identified at this point is the confrontation,” he said.
Dr Chua further explained that adolescents with emotional regulation difficulties and rejection sensitivity could continue reliving painful experiences long after the incident itself had ended.
“Ruminating on it continues the pain and exacerbates the pain, making the pain last long after the confrontation,” he said.
During the proceedings, Dr Chua also told the court that Zara’s case was his first psychological autopsy, adding that his previous court testimony mainly involved cases such as insanity pleas.
In response to questions from counsel Datuk Rizwandean M Borhan, Dr Chua said he could not recall previously testifying in adolescent-related cases.
