An elderly woman in her 80s kept her 54-year-old son’s dead body at home for more than a week after he passed away, as she was believed to have been reluctant to give up her son.
According to Shin Min Daily News, the incident happened at an HDB unit on the fifth floor of Block 85, Commonwealth Close.
Speaking to SMDN, a neighbour of the mother and son pair said that the man was emaciated and would usually come out of his home at 8 or 9am to water the plants and hang the clothes out to dry.
The resident hadn’t seen the man for about a week, not expecting him to have passed away.
Body removed
The deceased’s dead body was removed by the police at about 6.45pm, and another neighbour told SMDN that the elderly woman reportedly has a son and daughter.
The Singapore Police Force confirmed that they were alerted to a case of unnatural death at 12.38pm, and that they have ruled out murder in their preliminary investigations.
However, the police are still investigating the case.
Strong stench
Another neighbour shared that a strong stench could be smelled from the house earlier in the week, but they dismissed it at first, before calling the police after the smell got worse.
They were worried that something bad had happened to their neighbours.
The police reportedly waited outside the flat for an hour after arriving because nobody was answering the door, and a locksmith was then brought in to open the door.
Body rotting and covered in houseflies
The deceased was found lying face down in the living room and was in a state of decomposition, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A neighbour told the Chinese paper that the old woman started crying after the police officers entered the home, probably because she was unwilling to let her son be taken away.
SMDN reported that the deceased’s body in the living room was covered in houseflies.