Boy, 5, falls to death from flat

A five-year-old boy fell to his death from the window of his eighth-storey Tampines home on Friday evening.

The child, who would have turned six next month, is thought to have lost his footing while standing on a chair next to the window. He was likely trying to see whether his mother was returning home.

His father had gone overseas for work and his mother had gone to a nearby shop, leaving him alone at home although she rarely did this, said neighbours quoted in the reports in Chinese dailies Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min. They added that the boy was an only son, and the family had moved to Singapore from India about three years ago.

A 75-year-old neighbour who declined to be named said the boy was always polite and bubbly, and would call her "grandma". Other neighbours said he often played in the corridor.

The boy's father rushed back to Singapore and was at the morgue yesterday morning with his wife and other relatives to identify the body.

Onlookers said the boy's mother was distraught and had to be physically supported by the others.

The Sunday Times understands that the boy's body was taken back to India yesterday.

A police spokesman said it was investigating the unnatural death.

This article was first published on August 17, 2014.
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