Dad & daughter found dead in Sengkang flat: Fluid reappears on ceiling of flat below 5 days later

Five days after the discovery of the bodies of a father-daughter pair in Sengkang, fluids reappeared on the ceiling of the unit directly below the deceased persons' flat.

This was after the ceiling of the affected unit had already been cleaned and repainted.

The reappearance of the fluids and odour suggested that the waterproof layer in between the seventh and eighth-floor units might have been damaged.

Clean-up and repainting done

At around 6am on Oct. 6, 44-year-old Zeng (transliteration) received a call from his mother complaining of a foul smell and an unknown fluid seeping through her living room ceiling.

Even after cleaning up the fluid, which Zeng described as red, sticky and foul-smelling, the smell did not go away.

Zeng sensed something was off and phoned the police, who later discovered the body of a man, which was severely decomposed, and that of his 47-year-old daughter.

Five days later on Oct. 11, Zeng told Shin Min Daily News that the authorities had twice dispatched workers to clean and disinfect his mother's unit, which was located on the seventh floor at Block 324D Sengkang East Way.

"They also got someone to repaint the ceiling," Zeng said.

Fluids continued to seep through

Despite these measures, the odour continued to linger in the unit, and Zeng's mother has resorted to burning large amounts of incense in an attempt to deodorise the place.

However, what concerned Zeng more was the bodily fluids that had continued to seep through the ceiling.

"My mother moved back in on Oct. 9, but I discovered fluid stains on the ceiling again. The cleaners who visited previously said there will continue to be seepage," Zeng said.

According to Zeng, the cleaners told him to inform them if he observed anymore seepage, and suggested keeping all the windows open to ventilate the unit.

"It's not that I'm refusing to keep them open, but a strong odour continues to emanate from the upstairs unit. Whenever the wind blows, the odour wafts into my mother's unit," Zeng shared.

The window near the air-conditioning ledge of the deceased persons' unit was observed to be ajar.

Zeng asked: "If the fluid continues to seep through the ceiling, does that mean my mother will have to move out again?"

He said he hoped that the authorities would rework the ceiling's waterproofing and solve the issue for good.

He also hoped they would act on this fast and said he was willing to cooperate to enable this.

Waterproofing layer needs repair: Contractor

One contractor shared with Shin Min that, based on what's been going on, it was likely that the ceiling's waterproofing has been compromised.

The contractor added that a waterproofing layer can typically hold for 10 years or more.

However, it could become compromised if there had been construction works near it or when holes were drilled during renovation.

She also added that the fluid had likely seeped into the cement layer.

Getting rid of it would require hacking it away before backfilling it.

"It would take time for the authorities to work on this, so the resident can consider employing private contractors to repair the waterproofing layer and avoid further seepage," the contractor suggested.

Never talked about family

After news of her death broke, friends of the deceased woman, Xu Na, reached out to the press to share about their experiences with her.

She reportedly held a master's degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and a doctorate from the University of Cambridge.

One of her classmates from NUS, 48-year-old Huang (transliteration), expressed sadness at Xu's passing, Shin Min reported.

He shared that Xu had always been polite and conversations with her usually revolved around their studies.

She had never talked about her relationship with her family, Huang said.

Huang lost contact with Xu after graduation.

Related story

Top image via Shin Min Daily News