Woman, 82, found dead in Bukit Batok flat after friends failed to reach her for 5 days

An 82-year-old woman was discovered dead in her flat on Sunday (Mar 2) after not responding to her friends' calls for five days.

The elderly woman was then living alone in her flat at Block 171, Bukit Batok West Avenue 8. 

According to Shin Min Daily News, a close friend of the deceased, who wished to remain anonymous, told reporters that the elderly woman had lived alone for over 40 years. 

She added that they would typically arrange to meet up every month. 

And the last time she spoke to the deceased was on the second day of Chinese New Year this year.

However, when she tried calling the deceased on Feb 25, her calls were left unanswered. 

"I wanted to remind her to watch her favourite TV series and I found it strange that no one answered the phone," she said. 

In the following days, she reportedly continued to reach out to the deceased and even went to her unit to check up on her.  

As the deceased did not usually open her windows or turn on the lights, it was difficult to tell if she was home. 

Additionally, she noticed that there were many flyers left outside the deceased's door, which would normally have been cleared away by the latter.

She also told Shin Min that she had informed the Residents' Committee of the estate but was unsure who subsequently contacted the police. 

Responding to queries from AsiaOne, the police confirmed that they were alerted to a case of an unnatural death at about 12.30pm. 

The woman was found was found lying motionless in a residential unit and was pronounced dead at scene.

Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play. 

Investigations are ongoing.

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xingying.koh@asiaone.com