51-year-old woman found dead in Upper Serangoon flat after foul stench detected by neighbours

The body of a 51-year-old woman was discovered in her 12th-storey flat at Block 1 Lorong Lew Lian in Upper Serangoon at around 9am on Friday (Aug 16) after neighbours detected a foul stench.

According to a report by Shin Min Daily News, her 80-year-old neighbour, surnamed Huang, said she initially thought the smell was of a dead rat until her grandson shared that he had called the police about it.

Huang said that her grandson, who is living with her while serving his national service, would see the deceased woman out buying groceries when he left the flat at 7am every morning, but he had not run into her for a few days.

"I asked her next-door neighbour and she said [the deceased] wasn't seen drying her clothes since Monday, and she did not open her windows, which she usually did when she was at home," Huang added.

She told the Chinese evening daily that the deceased woman had lived in the flat for over 40 years with her parents and two brothers. After her parents died, one brother moved out of the home.

Huang stated that the woman's older brother lived with her until two years ago, when he underwent an amputation which she suspected was due to diabetes complications. Huang was unsure if he had moved into a nursing home.

Huang noted that the woman had lived alone since then and would occasionally be visited by volunteers or nurses, but she had not seen them in the past two to three weeks.

Shin Min reported that the deceased woman's youngest brother, a 40-year-old car mechanic, arrived on the scene later and stated that his older brother could not be contacted by the police.

He added that he had not been in contact with his siblings since he was kicked out of the home at 18, and would not have been there if he had not been informed by the police of his sister's death.

The police told the Chinese daily that they had received a report of unnatural death that morning and that the woman had died at home. Police do not suspect foul play based on preliminary reports and investigations are ongoing.

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drimac@asiaone.com