Photo shows the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex. — Bernama photo
KOTA KINABALU (July 15): The Coroner’s Court here has ordered the 76th deponent not to continue providing further expert opinion in the inquest into the death of the late Zara Qairina Mahathir.
Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan made the order on Dr Noor Aishah Rosli, a registered counsellor, after hearing oral clarifications from all concerned parties in the inquest.
He ruled that the objection raised by the conducting officer would be sustained in part and the 76th deponent would not be allowed to continue providing further expert opinion.
“The oral testimony and documentary evidence already tendered by deponent 76, including exhibit I-299 (her report), shall be maintained on the record.
“The legal status of exhibit I-299 (whether it will be admitted as expert opinion, restricted to factual narrative, or to be excluded in its entirety) and the weight to be attached to her evidence are reserved.
“These issues will be subject to final analysis and as I have said earlier, further submissions by all parties in view of the totality of the evidence at the close of this inquest,” he stated.
On July 14, conducting officer Nahra Dollah told the court that they had received an instruction to raise an objection on the 76th deponent on the grounds she is not an expert.
Noor Aishah had been giving evidence as a child psychologist and registered counsellor since July 13 to assist the Coroner in the inquest.
However, when questioned by Nahra, the witness admitted she is not registered under the Malaysian Allied Health Professions Council (MAHPC) and Allied Health Professions Act 2016.
Due to this matter, parties in the inquest raised concerns on whether Noor Aishah’s testimony was admissible.
Noor Aishah was a witness called by the legal team for Zara’s mother Noraidah Lamat.
Nahra had stated there was no evidence to date proving that the witness is registered as a child clinical psychology specialist, but only that she is a registered counsellor.
She pointed out any individual using the title child clinical psychology specialist must be registered under the Allied Health Professions Act 2016 as it is an offence to use the title without being registered under the Act.
The inquest will resume on July 16 with the recalling of the 75th deponent.
Zara, 13, was found under her dormitory building on July 16, 2025 and died the next day in hospital.
Her remains were exhumed on Aug 9, 2025 and a postmortem was performed on Aug 10 at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
On Aug 20, 2025, five minors, who were given pseudonyms Student A, B, C, D, and E, were charged with using insulting words against Zara.