Kota Kinabalu: Ordinary conflicts between Zara Qairina Mahathir and her mother, including reprimands, nagging or emotional diary entries, should not be viewed in isolation to conclude that their relationship was the main factor or dominant trigger behind Zara’s death, the Coroner’s Court heard.
Child psychologist and registered counsellor Dr Noor Aishah Rosli said that even if diary entries contained expressions of anger or abusive language directed at Zara’s mother, the existence of such entries alone would not be sufficient to conclude that Zara had suicidal intentions or was experiencing significant psychological distress due to their relationship.
Dr Noor Aishah said suicide risk assessments in a psychological autopsy must be based on the integration of multiple consistent sources of information rather than relying on a single piece of evidence.
She said such assessments should take into account mental health history, significant behavioural changes, communications relating to death, suicidal intent, major stressors, protective factors, social relationships and other supporting evidence.
Based on her assessment, Dr Noor Aishah said information relating to Zara’s daily relationship with her mother, their phone communications, witness observations, developmental history and overall mother-daughter interaction did not strongly support the hypothesis that their relationship was the main factor or dominant trigger behind her death.
Dr Noor Aishah also assessed Zara’s relationship with her father.
She said although Zara did not live with her father and he was not always physically present, they remained in contact through phone calls and WhatsApp.
According to her, a father’s physical absence should not automatically be interpreted as causing a lack of belonging or “failed belonging”, as a sense of belonging depends on the quality of interpersonal relationships rather than family structure alone.
Dr Noor Aishah said available information showed that Zara had strong emotional support from her mother, family members, caregiver, neighbours and several friends.
She said these relationships represented important protective factors in the psychological assessment of the case.
