The mother of Zara Qairina Mahathir told the Coroner’s Court that she did not believe her daughter had jumped from the third floor of her school building.
Noraidah Lamat, 46, said she had not noticed any signs of emotional distress in Zara Qairina before the incident, describing her daughter as cheerful and behaving as usual.
“I do not believe that,” she said when responding to lawyer Datuk Ram Singh during the inquest into Zara Qairina’s death on Friday.
Earlier, Ram had referred to expert testimony suggesting that Zara Qairina was not pushed and may have jumped voluntarily, before asking Noraidah for her view on that possibility.
Asked about her witness statement that Zara Qairina had shown no signs of distress before the incident, Noraidah disagreed with the suggestion that her daughter might have been struggling emotionally without showing it.
“No. I disagree that Zara was under stress. Her behaviour and personality were normal, as I usually saw her. She was cheerful, entertained the family and continued telling us stories,” she said.
Noraidah clarified that her account of Zara Qairina’s condition before the incident referred specifically to July 13 and 14, including the phone conversation she had with her daughter.
“By ‘before the incident’, I mean the 13th and Sunday, the 14th, when Zara called me.
“I did not see any signs of Zara being distressed. The way she called me and spoke was the same as what was recorded on my phone,” she said.
However, when asked why Zara Qairina would have decided to jump if she was not under stress, Noraidah said she did not know.
“I do not know. But as far as I am concerned, I do not believe Zara jumped,” she said.
When the lawyer asked whether she was suggesting that someone else had pushed her daughter, Noraidah clarified that she was not making that claim.
She said she still had not received clear information about the incident from the school or the investigating police.
“I do not mean that, because I myself have not received clear information from the school or the investigating police,” she said.
