KOTA KINABALU, Oct 9 — The late Zara Qairina Mahathir had once stopped her mother from confronting senior students at her school hostel, fearing that doing so would expose her to even worse bullying.
Her mother, Noraidah Lamat, 46, the 81st witness in the inquest into her daughter’s death, said she had proposed a meeting involving the hostel warden, security guard, the senior students concerned and Zara Qairina to clarify the issues her daughter had raised.
However, she said Zara Qairina disagreed with the proposal, fearing reprisals from the senior students.
“My daughter stopped me. She said something like, ‘Please don’t do it, Mum. They might treat me even worse. They have a gang, a big gang, in the hostel,’” she told Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan here today.
