The father of a 19-year-old Chinese teenager who died after falling from an apartment building next to her home is appealing to the police to investigate the case thoroughly.

In an interview with 8world, he said that he had reasons to doubt police investigations after they ruled out foul play.

However, after the news was reported, some of the teenager's friends told Chinese media Yangtse Evening Post that her father was abusive.

The case

In response to queries from Mothership, the Singapore Civil Defence Force said that they had received an alert regarding a case of unnatural death at around 7:45am on May 23.

A 19-year-old woman was found lying motionless at the bottom of a HDB flat located at 31 Jurong West Street 41.

The woman was pronounced dead on the spot by SCDF personnel.

Was an International Baccalaureate student

The teenager's father, Li Feng, told 8world in an interview that his daughter, Li Jiaxuan, was a student at an international school.

According to posts circulating on Chinese social media, Li said he had brought his daughter to Singapore at the age of 11.

His wife, who was a teacher at Ningbo Huizhen Academy, died of cancer in 2015.

Jiaxuan has studied in Singapore since 2016 and has just completed her International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations at Canadian International School.

She applied to several universities and intended to return to Ningbo City in Zhejiang Province.

Flew to Singapore to collect her ashes

Li said he was notified of his daughter's death at 2pm the day she passed away.

He learned that his daughter's body was found by security guards and cleaners.

He flew to Singapore to claim her body and cremate it. He then brought his daughter's ashes back to Ningbo, where he buried her next to his wife.

Did not display abnormal behaviour

Li claimed that his daughter was not depressed and displayed no abnormal behaviour before her death.

He was initially in disbelief when he received news that her daughter had fallen from a neighbouring apartment building.

He added that he believed his daughter was not stressed from academics and had a stable relationship with her boyfriend.

It seemed improbable that she would take her own life, he said. He added that it would have also been more likely that she would have fallen from her own unit rather than the neighbouring one.

Chat records revealed that Jiaxuan and Li had been talking at around 3am on the day of the incident.

He had previously called her on May 21 to discuss university applications.

Missing valuables

Li also said that his daughter owned two mobile phones, two laptops, a tablet and an Apple smartwatch.

However, he claimed that when he arrived at her unit, all of her electronics, several pieces of jewellery, and other valuables were missing.

Li suspected that the valuables might be with her daughter's boyfriend.

Jiaxuan's boyfriend had also allegedly reached out to Li through her WeChat account after her death.

This caused Li to grow more suspicious of the boyfriend.

He hoped that the police would investigate further into the people who were last in contact with his daughter before her death.

Father was abusive: teenager's friends

However, the teenager's friends alleged that her father was abusive towards his daughter, particularly when he was drunk, reported Yangtse.

According to chat records shown to the Yangtse reporter, Jiaxuan had told friends that her father smashed her head against a chair and used a wooden rod to hit her.

Friends also noticed her to be in a dull mood whenever she had to spend time with her father after returning to China because of the holidays.

They also showed the reporter a social media post Jiaxuan made less than a month before the incident, in which she said she missed her mother.

Other friends also reported to have heard from Jiaxuan that her father had abused her, such as once smashing a glass bottle on her head.

Sources also told Yangtse that the abuse only happens when he drinks, but when sober, Li was a normal dad who was willing to spend lavishly on his daughter.

The father, however, denied that he had abused his daughter but said he merely "disciplined" his daughter like "any other parent".

Soon after, more friends of Jiaxuan spoke to 8world and some even provided photos they had received from her in the past.

Helplines

If you or someone you know are in mental distress, here are some hotlines you can call to seek help, advice, or just a listening ear:

SOS 24-hour Hotline: 1-767

Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019

Institute of Mental Health: 6389-2222 (24 hours)

Tinkle Friend: 1800-274-4788 (for primary school-aged children)

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