The adjournment was to accommodate a related criminal trial next week involving five minors accused of bullying Zara, a Form One pupil of a religious secondary school in Papar who died a day after she was found unconscious near a drain at the school hostel.

The criminal trial is scheduled for Dec 8-12 and Dec 15-19.

The coroner, Amir Shah Amir Hassan, reminded the public not to make any comments or statements regarding the case. “If anyone has new or additional evidence, they should approach the conducting officer. That is the proper channel. Do not pre-empt the inquest,” he said.

Amir Shah said public commentary and speculation risked prejudicing the integrity of the proceedings, undermining its purpose of serving the interests of justice.

‘No knowledge of text messages’

Before the inquiry was adjourned, the school’s former senior assistant of student affairs, Asni Marjan, was asked about text messages allegedly sent by the mother of a pupil, referred to as Student A, to the school’s chief warden, Azhari Abdul Sagap, on the night of the incident.

Asni said he had no knowledge of the messages, sent between 10.28pm and 10.54pm on July 15. They were produced in court by counsel Joan Goh, who represents “Student A”, one of the five charged with bullying. The messages reportedly concerned an issue in the dormitory that evening.

In his testimony, Asni stated that to the best of his recollection, the chief warden neither showed him these messages nor informed him of their existence at the relevant time.