I feel pressured living with Zara Qairina’s mother – step‑sister

KOTA KINABALU, 6 OCTOBER 2026 —

Kakak tiri Zara Qairina Mahathir, Malianah Mahathir, testified before the Kota Kinabalu Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, saying she suffered emotional distress while living with the child’s mother for seven months during her primary‑school years.

Malianah, 25, said she was ten years old when she began living with her father and Zara Qairina’s mother after the couple married in 2011. She identified herself as witness 81 and placed the period of co‑habitation from late 2011 until June 2012, when she left the household. “Throughout the time I lived with my step‑mother, she was good when my father was at home.

When he was at work, she would change and did not like me,” she told the court, reading from her written statement.

The witness described a pattern of verbal abuse and neglect. “I experienced emotional pressure because of my step‑mother’s attitude and conversation. At that time I was still a primary‑school child,” she said. She added that she had to manage her own daily needs, including preparing meals, washing clothes and completing school supplies, while the step‑mother frequently used harsh language toward her.

Malianah said she moved to the boarding facility of Sekolah Kebangsaan Malaria in June 2012 after leaving the home. In 2013, while in Year Six, she left the dormitory and returned to live with her biological mother in Kampung Binunuk, Beaufort, where she continued her studies until Form Three.

She discontinued schooling in October 2016, worked in Kota Kinabalu for about three months, and then relocated to Kuala Lumpur at the end of that year to stay with an aunt in Rawang, Selangor, where she resumed education from Form Four to Form Five.

According to the witness, Zara Qairina was born in 2013, after Malianah had already stopped living with the child’s father and mother. The inquest record notes that Zara Qairina’s death occurred at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on 17 July 2025, a day after the unrelated incident involving a first‑year secondary student found unconscious near the school dormitory drain.

The coroner’s proceedings have drawn attention to the broader issue of child welfare in Sabah, where the case originated. While the testimony focused on personal hardship rather than direct links to the child’s death, it underscores the familial instability that can affect vulnerable children. The court will consider the witness’s account alongside medical reports and other evidence to determine whether any neglect or abuse contributed to the fatal outcome.

The next hearing is scheduled for later this month, when the coroner is expected to hear expert medical testimony and possibly additional family statements. The outcome will inform whether any criminal charges or protective measures will be recommended for the surviving family members.