Losing a loved one is never easy, and those who’ve been through it can attest to that regardless of how close they were to the deceased.
Just yesterday (21 June), the police found out that a mother in her eighties had kept her son’s corpse at their HDB flat for more than a week after he passed away at home.
The mother, who lived with her 54-year-old son in a fifth-floor unit at Block 85 Commonwealth Close, apparently did so as she could not bear to give up her son.
Neighbours Called Police Due to Rancid Odour
When reporters from Shin Min Daily News spoke to the neighbours in the area, the neighbour who informed the police explained that she first noticed an odour of sorts coming from the pair’s house earlier this week.
While the neighbour did not think much about it at first, the odour soon got more noticeable, prompting the neighbour to call the police as her husband could not stand the stench anymore.
In addition to that, the neighbour was worried that something might have happened to the residents in the house as well.
A Shin Min reporter who was at the scene on 21 June also attested to this and noted that there was indeed a rancid odour present in the HDB block’s corridor.
Police Had to Call Locksmith as No One Answered Door
After being informed of the situation, more than ten police officers were deployed to the area.
Their initial knocks went unanswered for an hour, leaving the officers no choice but to engage the help of a locksmith to help open the unit’s gate.
When police officers gained entry to the house, they found the man lying on the floor of the living room, with his corpse already decomposing.
Officers proceeded to pronounce him dead at the scene.
A neighbour also revealed that she saw many flies around the man’s body when the police officers brought the man’s corpse out of the unit.
The police officers at the scene also cordoned the fifth-floor corridor off and conducted over six hours of investigation at the unit.
At around 6.45pm, officers removed the corpse from the corridor and took several items in plastic bags with them as well.
According to Shin Min, the items appeared to be some belongings of the man before he passed away.
The police later confirmed that they were alerted about an unnatural death at 12.38pm yesterday (21 June).
Investigations are currently going on, with murder being ruled out during preliminary investigations.
Mother Cried When Police Took Son Away
One of the neighbours in the area recalled how the elderly lady immediately started crying loudly once the police officers entered the unit.
The neighbour added that she reacted in such a matter likely due to how she could not bear to let her son go and did not want the officers to take him away.
She also expressed her sympathy for the mother, saying that her son passing before her would indeed be difficult for her to accept.
Mother Has Two Other Children, Both Her and Son Never Interacted With Neighbours
When speaking to Shin Min reporters, other neighbours also shared details about the mother-and-son duo.
One neighbour who has been living in the block for more than a decade mentioned that the pair were already living at their current unit even before she moved in.
She recounted how the man appeared to be emaciated, and that he would usually hang the laundry and water flowers along the corridor from around 8am to 9am every morning.
However, she did not see him conduct his daily routine for the past week.
Despite that, she expressed that his passing was unexpected to her.
She also shared that both mother and son kept to themselves and never interacted with their neighbours.
This was especially so for the woman, who would retreat back to her unit whenever she saw other residents.
The pair also kept their unit’s door shut all of the time.
Another neighbour said that the elderly woman apparently has another son and daughter who rarely visits their mother, and the son who lived with her seemed to be unemployed before his passing.
Mother Cleaned House After Removal of Son’s Corpse
Shin Min also reported that an elderly woman with white hair began to clean up the living room of the unit with a broom after the man’s body was removed from the unit.
The woman, who was wearing pyjamas and glasses, had the help of another middle-aged woman.
It was reported that the living room floor was covered with newspapers.
Four people were seen waiting along the corridor as well, but all four declined to be interviewed.
At around 11pm that night, the elderly woman went out to the corridor and used water to clean the floor outside her unit.
Featured Image: Facebook (Shin Min Daily News 新明日报)