Police to submit probe findings on Zara's death to AGC today

Police will submit their investigation paper on the death of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) today, said Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail.

This was despite Zara’s family’s claim that authorities had not done a thorough probe into the case, including not carrying out a post-mortem to determine her cause of death.

“The investigation paper into the case has been completed, and it will be submitted to the deputy public prosecutor today, insya-Allah,” he told Malaysiakini.

The AGC indicated they will issue a press statement on the case later today.

On Saturday, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed that police have wrapped up their probe into the death of the Form One student from SMK Agama Tun Datu Mustapha in Papar, Sabah.

According to Saifuddin, the authority had recorded statements from around 60 witnesses.

‘Incomplete investigation’

A legal team representing Zara’s family disputed that police had done all that was necessary to determine what had happened to the victim, who died after being found unconscious in a drain near the school hostel.

They said the police had failed to take Zara’s personal effects and the clothing she was wearing during the incident as evidence.

In a statement, lawyers Hamid Ismail and Shahlan Jufri said the Queen Elizabeth Hospital I in Kota Kinabalu had surrendered the items to Zara’s mother on July 16, who then put them in the custody of an NGO representative appointed to represent the mother.

However, according to the lawyers, police had neither seized the items nor contacted Zara’s mother to obtain them for investigation.

“We are of the view that the investigation paper that the police are submitting to the AGC is incomplete, not thorough, and has a very narrow focus.

“Furthermore, there was no post-mortem carried out on Zara’s body prior to burial,” lawyers Ismail Hamid and Shahlan Jufri said in a statement yesterday.

Prior to this, Zara’s mother, Noraidah Lamat, reportedly appointed two lawyers to begin the process of exhuming her daughter’s grave for a post-mortem.

Zara was found with severe injuries at her school dormitory at around 3am on July 16.

Initial reports stated she had fallen from the third floor of the building. She died the following day at the hospital.

Police have not ruled out the possibility of bullying and have referred the case to Bukit Aman for a more comprehensive analysis.

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