Woman, 82, found dead in Bukit Batok flat after calls from friend went unanswered for 5 days

An 82-year-old woman was found lying motionless in her flat at Block 171 Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 on Mar. 2 afternoon.

She was pronounced dead at the scene, the police said.

According to Shin Min Daily News, even though the deceased had three sons, she did not have a good relationship with them and lived alone in the flat.

Friend last spoke to deceased over phone on Jan. 30

Speaking to Shin Min, a friend of the deceased shared that the late woman had been living at the public housing block for over 40 years.

According to the friend, she would call her friend every month and invite her to meet up.

The last time they spoke on the phone was on Jan. 30, the second day of Chinese New Year (CNY) 2025, when the friend sent her well wishes.

Friend alerted resident's committee after calls unanswered for 5 days

However, when the friend called the deceased on Feb. 25 to remind her about her favourite television series, no one picked up the phone, reported Shin Min.

Puzzled by the lack of response, the friend continued calling daily over the next four days.

She also went to check on her friend at her flat, but she could not ascertain whether the woman was home, as the lights were not turned on as usual and the windows were closed.

Additionally, as the late woman had previously moved in with her eldest son for a week after fainting at home, the friend said she thought she might have done so again.

The friend did notice something was amiss: The flyers stuffed under the door were not removed, even though it was the late woman's habit to collect it.

"I notified the resident's committee, but I am not sure who alerted the police," added the friend.

Deceased had fainted at home previously

According to the friend, the deceased was a "frugal" widow who did not want to hire a caretaker even though she had fainted at her home and could not get up on her own, reported Shin Min.

"In recent years, she became increasingly withdrawn and unwilling to connect with the outside world. She even asked her sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren not to visit her, including for Chinese New Year," said the friend.

She added that the deceased had lost contact with her second son, but her youngest son would still occasionally bring her to doctor appointments.

"I had tried to persuade her to take it easy and not to argue with her family over trivial matters. However, she would still scold her sons and daughters-in-law every time," said the friend.

Police statement

In response to Mothership's queries, the police confirmed that they were alerted to the case of unnatural death at around 12:30pm on Sunday.

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

Police investigations are ongoing.

Top images via Shin Min Daily News