The Coroner’s Court was told today that hundreds of pages were removed from a diary linked to the late Zara Qairina Mahathir.
Forensic document examiner and certified handwriting expert Dr Linthini Gannetion testified that documents labelled Y1 to Y15 were confirmed to have originated from a green PVC-covered notebook titled “Love and Peace” (WK9), with the pages torn from the book.
The 74th prosecution witness said her examination found that a reference notebook of the same type contains 228 lined pages, while WK9 only had 106 remaining lined pages.
“This indicates that a large number of pages were removed from WK9 before the examination was conducted,” she said.
She added that the tear patterns on documents Y1 to Y15 were inconsistent and did not show a uniform method of removal. She also noted indications that additional pages beyond Y1 to Y15 may have been removed.
Zara Qairina, 13, was found unconscious at the ground floor of her hostel before being pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 17, 2025. Her death, allegedly linked to bullying, sparked nationwide calls for stronger anti-bullying measures and greater accountability.
On August 20, 2025, five minors identified as students A, B, C, D, and E were charged with using insulting words against Zara. They pleaded not guilty, and the case is ongoing in the Children’s Court.
Dr Linthini said her examination also aimed to determine whether there were any signs of tampering or unauthorised alteration in documents Y1 to Y15.
She said findings such as missing pages, variations in ink types, erased writing, and inconsistent date patterns indicated that interference with the documents could not be ruled out.
Using oblique lighting, she observed indentation patterns on certain pages that did not match the writing on preceding pages, suggesting those original pages may have been removed. However, she noted that more precise analysis using an Electrostatic Detection Apparatus (ESDA) could not be conducted as the evidence was not transported to the laboratory.
The expert also testified that Zara’s known diary writing style typically did not include consistent dating, whereas nearly all pages in Y1 to Y15 contained dates, except Y8B and Y13B.
She added that different pen usage was detected in several sections, including Y10B, suggesting entries may have been made at different times. On Y4B, part of the word “challenge” was written in pencil while the rest was in pen, while another name appeared to have been altered using a different pen.
For Y13A, she noted erased text including the phrase “Jala imut” and two lines mentioning the name “Alysha,” adding that the phrase did not match Zara’s known handwriting style and suggested it may have been written by another individual.
Dr Linthini said she could not conclusively determine authorship for several pages due to a lack of contemporaneous handwriting samples written in a similar informal diary style.
However, she said multiple sections (Y10B, Y11A, Y11B, Y12A, Y12B, Y13A, Y13B, Y14A, Y14B, Y15A, and Y15B) showed strong similarities to Zara Qairina’s handwriting samples from February to mid-April 2025, and were likely written by her.
