This has got to be the most shocking thing you read in Singapore today, as reported by The New Paper on Jan. 31, 2015:

Murder most foul

A woman was brutally battered and murdered in a Beach Road HDB flat in March 2012.

For nine months after that, her body laid decomposing in the vacant flat, wrapped with a blanket, an orange plastic sheet, a black trash bag and a quilt cover.

The smell was "masked" as a fan was left on and two air fresheners were placed near her body.

No one found anything amiss until on Dec. 31, 2012, when an HDB inspector noticed a foul smell while entering the Beach Road flat and came across the woman's body.

By then, her body was already in an advanced state of decomposition with the head fully skeletonised,

What happened

Details about what happened came to light in court on Jan. 30, 2015.

Investigations revealed that the body belonged to Lydia Wati Mohamed Yahya (above), aged 30.

She was staying in the flat with her uncle, Mohamed Firdaus Mohamed Hanafiah, 29, his then-girlfriend, Siti Salihah, 23, and their newborn baby.

According to accounts given by the girlfriend to the police, Firdaus had beaten and tortured his niece over a 10-hour period one night in late March 2012.

The attack

The uncle attacked his niece with his fists, a broom, shower head and hammer after she refused to eat food prepared by him at about 4pm that day.

It angered Firdaus who then hurled vulgarities at her, slapped and punched her, even though his girlfriend protested.

The violence got worse and he hit her with a broom because he was unhappy about the floor being dirty after he had told her to sweep it.

After that he continued his assault for an hour in the kitchen toilet, despite her pleas for him to stop.

Siti saw Firdaus holding a shower head next to his terrified niece, who was bleeding from her forehead by then.

About two hours later, Firdaus attacked his niece again after he told her to take a bath and wash her clothes.

Banging sounds on the toilet walls were heard, while the victim apologised.

Filled with rage, Firdaus got a hammer from his tool bag in the living room, warned his girlfriend to keep quiet and went to the toilet.

He struck Lydia multiple times on her back and shoulders with the hammer.

The girlfriend begged for him to stop but ran back to her room in fear when Firdaus waved the hammer at her.

At 2am, Lydia stopped screaming.

Firdaus pulled his niece from the toilet to a bedroom.

She was still breathing and groaning.

He shook her and told her to get up.

Her breathing stopped.

Realising she died, Firdaus wrapped the body multiple times. He then left a fan on and placed air-fresheners near the body.

At about 6am, Firdaus, Siti and their baby left the flat.

Justice

Firdaus was arrested on Jan 5, 2013, more than nine months after the murder.

In court last week on Jan. 30, 2015, where the case finally came to an end, the former odd-job worker was sentenced to 10 years and eight months' jail for culpable homicide and two other drug- related charges.

Firdaus, who was not represented by a lawyer in court, was found to be suffering from psychotic depression at the time when the crime was committed.

The court heard that Firdaus had a difficult childhood that led to a "severe personality disorder of mixed type with borderline, anti-social, obsessional and schizotypal features".

He said he was remorseful and "hope(d) to be able to receive treatment in prison".

A psychiatrist recommended "around eight to 10 years of treatment", as there was a high risk of relapse.

In total, the victim suffered 11 rib fractures, one sternum fracture and one right forearm fracture.

His family members were present in court, but declined to be interviewed.

The only person to speak to the press was the deceased's mother, who told Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao she had tried to look for her daughter at the Beach Road flat when she went missing for three months.

But nobody was at home.

Some questions:

How can the neighbours not smell anything for nine months?

Wouldn't the neighbours have heard the assault or screaming when it happened for 10 hours?

If the flat was vacant but the fan turned on, did it mean that the flat was vacant throughout that time or did the murderer go back to flat to change new air fresheners from time to time?

Was the HDB inspector eventually called because the smell became too unbearable?

How could this even have happened in Singapore?

Top photo via

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