No cruelty, only conversations about missing wallet but ‘budu’ was used, Student B tells Zara Qairina inquest

No cruelty, only conversations about missing wallet but ‘budu’ was used, Student B tells Zara Qairina inquest



A view of SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha religious boarding school in Limauan, Papar, Sabah where Zara Qairina Mahathir was a student prior to her death on July 17, 2025. — Screegnrab from Google Street View

Thursday, 09 Oct 2025 5:08 PM MYT


KOTA KINABALU, Oct 9 — A Form Four student at SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha accused of bullying Zara Qairina Mahathir told the Coroner’s Court today that she never scolded, humiliated, or harmed the 13-year-old girl the night she fell — only questioning the latter about a missing wallet.

Known only as Student B following a court order to withhold the underaged witnesses names, the older girl testified that her brief encounter with Zara Qairina on the night of July 15 was calm and limited to asking her and clarifying suspicions raised by another dorm mate.

“She told the court she did not scold or get angry at Zara,” lawyer Azhier Farhan Arisin told reporters after the closed-door hearing.

“She said she had only asked her whether she knew about the missing wallet and IC belonging to another student. She denied it, saying she didn’t take it.”


According to the lawyer, Student B was one of the dorm leaders and said Zara Qairina appeared normal and not emotionally distressed throughout their brief exchange.

Student B said she called Zara Qairina to her room that night after her roommate complained that her wallet had gone missing, and that she suspected the the 13-year-old girl had taken it.

When Zara Qairina came to the room and was confronted, she said “No, I didn’t take it.”

“She then asked Zara to swear ‘Wallahi’ (in God’s name) that she didn’t, and she did — clearly and without hesitation.”

Student B said there were other senior students in the dorm room who witnessed the exchange.

“She then told Zara, ‘Just admit if you took it, we won’t be angry,’ but she said Zara Qairina did not admit and then said she no longer did such things as she had ‘changed’,” the lawyer recounted.

When more students started questioning Zara Qairina again, Student B said she was not involved anymore and did not know if anyone had attempted to stop it.

“She did remember one student using the word ‘budu’ (meaning stupid in Sabah),” another lawyer Shahlan Jufri related.

Student B said the confrontation that night was not any kind of official dorm or hostel disciplinary process, known as Mesyuarat Asrama (MA) or Mesyuarat Bilik (MB).

She claimed that Zara Qairina appeared “normal” and was not distressed before everyone dispersed to their respective rooms about five minutes later.

Student B said she later went to sleep in another dorm room with several friends and maintained that she never left the room between midnight and 3am — the hours in which Zara Qairina was believed to have fallen from the third floor.

Student B claimed she was awakened later and that someone told her Zara Qairina was lying outside the dormitory on the ground floor.

The witness also confirmed she was part of a close-knit group of 19 senior students known as “Circle Nineteen”, but denied that the group functioned as an unofficial disciplinary body or was known to the wardens.

When asked whether it was common for seniors to call juniors for questioning, Student B said it was not unusual for older students to “advise” juniors or reprimand them firmly, but insisted there was no conflict or history of animosity between her and Zara Qairina.

“She said had no problem with Zara. They were not close, but she said she never saw her being scolded or disturbed by other students’,” said Azhier.