Zara Qairina last saw her father in 2017

Zara Qairina Mahathir’s father told the Coroner’s Court that he last saw his daughter around 2017, in Sipitang. Since then, he said, they had stayed in contact through telephone calls and WhatsApp.

Mahathir Mohd Hashim, 45, appeared as the 80th witness before Coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan. He said he no longer lived with Zara and her mother after moving to Kota Kinabalu for work in mid-2015. He rented a room there and could not travel to Sipitang every week because of financial constraints.

“However, I still returned to Sipitang to see Zara and her mother every one or two months,” he said while reading his witness statement. He said Zara’s mother had cared for and raised her completely. Mahathir described Zara as a cheerful child who enjoyed going to the beach. He said she often asked him to take her there when he returned home, and that he had also taken Zara and her mother on a holiday to Tuaran.

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The last time I met Zara was around 2017 in Sipitang.

Mahathir said he called his daughter “baby Zara,” while she called him “babah.” He told the court that Zara had not shown any signs or condition that worried him when he was still living with them. He also said he had previously asked her about where she lived and attended school, but she did not tell him.

On July 16, 2025, while he was in Beaufort, Mahathir received a WhatsApp message from Noraidah between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. saying Zara was in an emergency unit. Noraidah sent him a photograph of Zara lying on a bed, but he did not know which hospital was treating her. He asked his father, Mohd Hashim, to look for her at Sipitang Hospital because he believed Zara and her mother lived there and that Zara attended school in the district. After learning she was not there, he tried to find her at Beaufort Hospital, the testimony continued.

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However, I still returned to Sipitang to see Zara and her mother every one or two months.