KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian police have revealed there was a breach of procedure in the investigation into the death of 13-year-old student Zara Qairina Mahathir, after an investigating officer failed to request a post-mortem examination.
Federal Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk M Kumar said disciplinary action, including possible suspension, was being considered against the officer and their supervisor.
The lapse occurred despite rules requiring a post-mortem in cases of suspicious death.
Kumar said the officer cited the victim’s mother’s plea to avoid the procedure as the reason, and that she had signed a hospital form refusing the examination, witnessed by a pathologist and the officer.
“Legally, the investigating officer could have overridden this, but chose not to,” he told reporters at Bukit Aman police headquarters.
Zara, a student at SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha in Papar, Sabah, was found unconscious in a school drain on 16 July and died the following day. Her body was exhumed last Saturday after the Attorney-General’s Chambers ordered further investigation.
A second autopsy found her death consistent with the initial diagnosis — severe brain injury caused by a fall, leading to oxygen and blood flow deprivation.
Kumar said an inquest would be sought next week to clarify events before the incident, alongside a criminal probe into possible bullying under Section 507(2) of the Penal Code.
The education ministry has reassigned the school principal, senior student affairs assistant, and all wardens pending the investigation.
Police have also provided psychiatric interventions for 124 students affected by the incident. — August 13, 2025