KUALA LUMPUR — A mannequin used by police to simulate the fall of teenager Zara Qairina Mahathir did not match her actual height, and the officer who conducted the test admitted he was unsure whether the difference affected the results.
Inspector Maidon Bernadus told the Coroner’s Court in Kota Kinabalu today that the mannequin stood 180cm tall compared with Zara Qairina’s 153cm.
Questioned by the family’s lawyer, Shahlan Jufri, on whether this could alter the centre of gravity and distance of the fall, he replied: “I am not sure.”
The crime scene officer also said the mannequin was modified with bricks and tape to approximate the teenager’s body weight of 53kg, as its original weight was only 10kg.
He explained that two simulations from the same dummy were conducted last August — one with the dummy dropped vertically, and another with a slight forward push.
He said the first scenario was most consistent with the position where the 13-year-old was found.
The mannequin, which suffered broken legs and a detached head after the test, was presented in court on the fifth day of proceedings before Coroner Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
Earlier, school security guard Linah Mansoding testified that she discovered Zara Qairina lying unconscious in a drain near the Rabiatul Adawiyah hostel block at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Tun Datu Mustapha in Papar around 3am on July 16, bleeding from her neck.
The girl died the following day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.
The inquest continues. — September 10, 2025