The Coroner’s Court was told that the mother of the late Zara Qairina Mahathir declined a post-mortem examination on her daughter’s body despite receiving an explanation about its importance.
Dr Logaraj Ratha, 33, from the Forensic Medicine Department of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), testified that since no objections were raised, the hospital released Zara’s remains to her mother, Noraidah Lamat, in accordance with hospital and departmental policy.
He said that after confirming Noraidah’s refusal, he handed her a “Declaration of Refusal for Post-Mortem Examination at Own Request” form and explained its contents and the sections that needed to be filled in. He also informed her that without a post-mortem, the family would not be able to make claims or obtain an official report on the cause of death from the hospital’s Forensic Medicine Department in the future.
Dr Logaraj, the seventh witness in the inquest, said Noraidah completed the claimant’s section of the form, while her sister-in-law, Nur Shira Abdullah, filled in the witness section. He signed the document as the attending doctor after Noraidah confirmed she understood the explanation and the contents of the form.
Earlier, Dr Logaraj told the court he was informed at 5pm on July 17 of a death in the Neurosurgery Ward at QEH, which was under police investigation. The body, identified as Zara, was later transferred to the Forensic Medicine Department.
He explained that the department manages mortuary services, including the collection, registration, storage and release of bodies from wards or the Emergency and Trauma Department to next of kin, in line with its operational policy and the Standard Operating Procedure of Forensic Medicine Services Malaysia.
As the case involved a police investigation, Dr Logaraj said he notified the on-duty forensic pathologist, Dr Ding Chee Swan, and contacted the investigating officer, Inspector Wong Yew Zhung from the Papar district police headquarters.
Inspector Wong informed him that he had spoken to Dr Pavankumar Balachandran, the medical officer on duty at the Neurosurgery Department, who confirmed that Zara’s death was due to severe traumatic brain injury with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy.
Wong later told Dr Logaraj that the police would not issue Form Pol. 61 — the Request for Post-Mortem Examination — and that the hospital could release Zara’s remains without a medico-legal post-mortem.
For the body’s release, Dr Logaraj received a clearance letter from Inspector Wong authorising Zara’s remains to be handed over to her mother. He met with Noraidah and Nur Shira to inform them that the police were not issuing Form Pol. 61 and also explained the importance of a post-mortem examination.
Although a clinical post-mortem could still have been conducted with next-of-kin consent, Noraidah chose not to proceed despite the explanation provided, Dr Logaraj said.
