Man found dead at foot of Little India HDB block; police discover body of his mother in flat

SINGAPORE - A 54-year-old man was found dead at the foot of a Housing Board block in Little India on Tuesday morning (July 9).

Police officers, who were alerted to the case at about 7am, later found the body of his mother in their 11th-floor unit at Block 637 Veerasamy Road.

The police are investigating the unnatural deaths.

In response to queries, the police said that the 82-year-old woman was found lying motionless inside the flat.

Both mother and son were pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.

A neighbour from a nearby unit, who declined to be named, said that the man had lived in the flat for about 40 years.

His father died about 10 years ago, and he has been living there with his mother since then, the 60-year-old retiree said.

"He loved his mother. He would bring his mother to go out to see the doctor, and will go out to buy food for her daily too," he added.

The last time he spoke to the man was on Sunday, when they discussed the Home Improvement Programme. Renovation works for their two units were supposed to begin on Thursday.

"I know them for so many years, but whenever we talked, I never asked him about any problems he had that we could help out with. I feel bad for not taking action," he said.

He understood that the family had financial problems, as the man had told him before that he had been unemployed since his father died, to take care of his mother full time. He previously worked as a warehouse storeman.

The man was the youngest in his family, and had one elder brother and two sisters. His sisters currently live overseas, and return about once a year to visit.

The retiree said that over the last 10 years, the man had borrowed money from him less than 10 times, each time for expenses to take his mother for medical check-ups.

"Each time he would borrow about $50 or $100, but he would always return within around six months," he said.

He added that the man's mother had been wheelchair-bound since the start of this year.

"We could hear her scolding him everyday, very loudly from morning until at night. But we never understood what she was saying, as she spoke in Tamil."

A 72-year-old resident, who gave his name as Mr Wang, told Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Wanbao that the woman suffered from dementia.

He added that he last saw the mother-and-son pair on Monday evening, dressed up and heading out of their flat together.

Both mother and son were pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.