{
  "id": 14375366,
  "title": "Police only knew of 2 school probes into Zara’s death, says investigating officer",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/police-only-knew-of-2-school-probes-into-zaras-death-says",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-14T05:14:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/10/14/police-only-knew-of-2-school-probes-into-zara-s-death-says-investigating-officer"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The investigating officer in Zara Qairina Mahathir's death revealed on July 17, 2025, that the Kota Kinabalu school's disciplinary unit had conducted only two internal investigations, contrary to earlier testimony that there were five. Wong Yew Zhung stated he only knew of the two investigations on July 17 and 18, 2025, after being given five statements from senior students, as reported by Borneo Post. Assistant chief discipline teacher Nurul Syahadah Ibrahim had earlier testified that five internal probes were conducted from July 16 to August 13. The police only received statements from the five students accused of verbally abusing Zara, after the school's disciplinary unit continued its internal investigations for record-keeping purposes after taking over the investigation on July 16. Zara was found unconscious near a drain at her school dormitory the following day, dying at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Her remains were exhumed on August 9, with a post-mortem examination conducted on August 10. In August 20, five minors were charged in the Kota Kinabalu children's court for verbally abusing Zara, with their identities protected as Students A, B, C, D and E.",
  "summary": "This follows testimony last year that police were not informed of five internal probes conducted by the school’s disciplinary unit.",
  "key_points": [
    "Only two internal investigations conducted by Kota Kinabalu school's disciplinary unit.",
    "Five students accused of verbally abusing Zara, charged in August 20.",
    "Zara's remains exhumed on August 9 for post-mortem examination on August 10."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Discrepancies between police records and school testimony highlight potential gaps in how internal disciplinary investigations are communicated to law enforcement during sensitive criminal inquiries.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Police only knew of 2 school probes into Zara’s death, says investigating officer",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/police-only-knew-of-2-school-probes-into-zaras-death-says-14375753",
        "published": "2026-10-14T05:14:11.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Vibes",
        "title": "Zara Qairina inquest: Investigating officer says final findings showed no suspicious circumstances",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/zara-qairina-inquest-investigating-officer-says-final-findings-showed",
        "published": "2026-10-14T06:55:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}