The inquest into the death of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir has begun in Kota Kinabalu, with the court allowing her father’s counsel and lawyers representing five accused teenagers to take part as interested parties.

Sessions Court judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan, sitting as coroner, granted Mahathir Hashim Marikin’s application to be represented throughout the proceedings by his lawyers Sherzali Asli, Nurul Rafeeqa Afdul Mutolip and Clarice Vyonne Conrad.