Kota Kinabalu: The Coroner’s Court has yet to decide whether Zara Qairina Mahathir’s stepsister will be called to testify in the ongoing inquest into her death, with a ruling on the issue expected during the next sitting in July.
Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan said there was no immediate necessity to call the deponent and indicated that the matter could be reconsidered after hearing evidence from Zara’s mother, Noraidah Lamat.
The issue arose following confusion over whether the stepsister was to be called during Monday’s proceedings, which was vacated due to the absence of any deponent.
In the proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari told the court that they received instructions from its superiors to call the stepsister to testify in the inquest.
However, Mohd Fairuz said his team was awaiting for the Coroner’s direction before arranging her attendance.
Counsel Shahlan Jufri who led the team counsel for Zara’s mother, there was no relevancy to call Zara’s stepsister as she only stayed with Zara’s mother for at least a month when she was conceiving Zara.
Shahlan was of the view there was not much from the stepsister that could assist the Coroner as the testimony from the Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist was enough since Zara’s mother was one of the interviewees.
Counsel Nurul Rafeeqa Afdul Mutolip, acting for Zara’s father, Mahathir Mohd Hashim, shared the same view, while counsel Datuk Ram Singh and Abdul Fikry Jaafar Abdullah, representing several students linked to the case, supported calling the stepsister as a deponent.
He fixed July 13-17, Aug 24-28, Sept 7-11 and Oct 5-23 for future sittings, saying the court hoped to conclude the proceedings within that time.
The inquest resumes on June 23 (today) with expert deponents from Noraidah’s legal team.
