Dr Noor Aishah Rosli says the girl's overall psychological profile portrayed her as a cheerful and sociable child.
PETALING JAYA: A child psychologist and registered counsellor told the Kota Kinabalu coroner’s court today that Zara Qairina Mahathir’s overall psychological profile portrayed her as a “cheerful, sociable, active, loving, generous and motivated child and young adolescent with aspirations and a close bond with her mother”.
Bernama reported that Dr Noor Aishah Rosli, 51, said this was based on an overall assessment of Zara’s development from birth to the age of 13. The 76th witness in the inquest into Zara’s death also said that while the teenager displayed “social sensitivity” and faced typical challenges such as peer conflicts and some situational maladaptive behaviours, these factors alone were insufficient to support the conclusion that she intended to take her own life.
Aishah said she prepared a psychological autopsy profile of Zara to assess whether there was a sound psychological basis to conclude that the teenager had the inclination, intent or psychological state consistent with taking her own life. She said the available data pointed to the need for a careful examination of factors in Zara’s school and hostel environment before the incident.
“I also examined psychological, social, family, school environment, peer relationship, hostel experience, personal writings, phone communications and witness information factors that could help the court understand the full context of Zara’s life before the incident,” she said. Aishah said the materials examined included documents related to Zara’s life, such as photographs, videos, diaries, notes, school documents, psychological or psychiatric reports, handwriting analysis reports, forensic document reports, as well as transcripts of phone conversations between Zara and her mother, Noraidah Lamat.
She said interviews were also conducted with those who had direct knowledge or close relationships with Zara, including her mother, relatives, caregivers, neighbours, school friends, teachers and wardens. Aishah said a psychological profile of Noraidah was also developed because she was the person closest to Zara throughout her life and had deep knowledge of the teenager’s cognitive, emotional, social and behavioural development, as well as her interests, daily routines and life experiences.
She said the teenager had not consistently displayed signs of severe depression, social withdrawal, hopelessness, suicidal intent, or a clear history of suicide attempts before she was found unconscious at her school’s hostel on July 16 last year.
“In the context of psychological theories related to suicide risk, an assessment must consider whether there is a sense of not being accepted, a feeling of being a burden, the capability to inflict serious self-harm, as well as a combination of acute factors that converge to create risk. “In Zara’s case, the available data does not strongly indicate that all of these elements were consistently and dominantly present before the incident,” she said.
Aishah also said Zara’s relationship with her mother should not be viewed in isolation as the primary factor, as the overall dynamic was largely characterised by attachment, affection, emotional support and open communication. Zara, 13, died on July 17 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she had been admitted a day earlier after being found unconscious near a drain at her school hostel in Papar at 4am.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers ordered her remains exhumed for a post-mortem on Aug 8 before announcing a formal inquest into her death on Aug 13. The proceedings before coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan resume this afternoon.
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