Mother And Baby Found Dead At Foot Of HDB Block, Was Worried About Child’s Development

A mother and her one-year-old daughter were found dead at the foot of a Housing Development Board (HDB) flat on 5 November 2023.

On 23 July, a coroner’s inquiry was conducted into their deaths which revealed that the mother had been worried about her daughter’s development.

The Day Of The Incident 

At around 10am on the day of the incident, the woman’s husband noticed that she was not getting ready to leave for church.

She said that she would stay home since their daughter was unwell. Her husband left the house with their son, as the latter had been adamant about going to church.

While en route to church, the husband texted his wife but did not receive a reply. However, he did not find it to be out of the ordinary as she did not have the habit of using her phone while taking care of their daughter.

At around 12:35pm a neighbour saw something fall one after the other, and heard loud thuds while hanging clothes outside her balcony.

She subsequently saw the mother and her child on the ground and called the police. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Husband Saw Police Cordon At The Foot Of Their Block Upon Returning Home

Upon returning home from church at around 1:30pm, he spotted a police cordon at the foot of their HDB block.

When he noticed that his wife and daughter were not at home, he asked police officers at the foot of the block if there were two bodies.

The police officers subsequently showed him photos and he confirmed their identities.

Changes In Behaviour After Giving Birth To Son And Daughter

Police Investigation Officer (IO) Clarice Koh, who was the sole witness in the inquiry, said that the husband noticed his wife had temper outbursts after giving birth to their son in 2019. However, the outbursts subsided after two years.

Following the birth of their daughter, his wife grew worried upon learning that their one-year-old child was underdeveloped and underweight during a check-up.

Her parents noticed that she became more irritable and withdrawn. Her father also observed that she took fewer photos of the children.

IO Koh stated that in both hospital check-ups after childbirth, the woman did not exhibit signs of mental health problems and was assessed as not being at risk of postnatal depression.

Authorities have ruled out any suspicion of foul play. The coroner will deliver his findings on 22 August.

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