The testimony was given by the 20th child witness, a student of SMK Agama Tun Datu Mustapha, Papar, during the 27th day of the inquest into Zara’s death before coroner Amir Shah Amir Hassan.

Lawyer Syarulnizam Salleh, representing Zara’s mother, said the witness testified that she saw Zara at 12.30am on July 16, when she went to the toilet with a friend on the third floor of the school dormitory.

While standing in front of the mirror, the witness saw Zara peeking over the top of a toilet cubicle.

“The witness said Zara appeared to be looking around to see who else was in the toilet. The toilet light was on at the time, and she was able to see Zara. Her face looked a little pale,” Syarulnizam said, sharing the witness’s statement with reporters after the proceedings.

He said the witness also testified that she waited for about five minutes, but when Zara did not come out of the toilet, she left to wake the dorm leader and the victim’s roommates.

“However, no one in the dorm wanted to wake up. The dorm leader only said, ‘Why, is she locked up? Let her be’ while the others, appearing sleepy, went back to sleep,” Syarulnizam added.

He said the witness also confirmed there was a culture in the dormitory where senior students subjected junior students to harsh or sarcastic reprimands, sometimes scolding them loudly without mentioning their names, which could cause embarrassment.

Meanwhile, lawyer Joan Goh, representing one of the teenagers in the case, said the 21st child witness, also a student at the school, told the court that the victim often kept her feelings to herself and wrote them in a diary.

Zara, 13, died on July 17 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she had been admitted a day earlier after being found unconscious in a drain near her school’s hostel at 4am.

The inquest will resume on Oct 27.