Zara Qairina inquest: Handwriting expert defends journal analysis despite rival's differing testimony

KOTA KINABALU, Sept 11 — During the inquest into the death of 13-year-old student Zara Qairina Mahathir, a document examiner, Dr. Linthini Gannetion, maintained her conclusions despite another forensic handwriting expert providing differing testimony. The second deponent, Nurul Atiqah Mohd Noh, testified that Dr. Linthini's findings had not altered her conclusions.

Nurul clarified that the frequency or pattern of writing dates was not a scientific criterion in forensic document examination for determining the writer or the existence of interference. She also noted that a person's handwriting could change over time, but small differences in handwriting characteristics did not necessarily indicate a different writer.

Regarding the absence of contemporary handwriting samples from November 2024 to January 2025, Nurul reiterated that an opinion of "no conclusion can be made" did not imply the writings were not written by Zara Qairina Mahathir or that someone else wrote them. She emphasized that the examination's conclusions depended on the results found, whether similarities or differences were identified.