Step-sister testifies on emotional distress, claims step-mother prevented her from ever meeting Zara
A STEPSISTER of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir told the Kota Kinabalu Coroner’s Court on Tuesday that she was subjected to emotional distress during the seven months she lived with her stepmother, and was never permitted to meet her late half-sist...
Malianah Mahathir, 25, testified at Kota Kinabalu Coroner's Court that her stepmother, Noraidah Lamat, prevented her from meeting her half-sister Zara before the teenager's fatal fall at a school hostel. Malianah lived with her father and stepmother from late 2011 to June 2012. She alleged that her stepmother frequently insulted her biological mother, causing her severe emotional distress.
When her father was away working, her stepmother treated her poorly, making her cook, wash clothes and school uniform, handle household chores, and sleep on the kitchen floor facing the toilet despite having an empty bedroom. Noraidah also forbade Malianah from seeing Zara, who was born in 2013 after Malianah had already moved out.
The inquest is investigating the cause of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir's death on 16 July 2025, which occurred at her school hostel after falling from the third floor.
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