SINGAPORE — A four-year-old boy was found dead on Monday morning at a Toa Payoh Lorong 1 unit, while his 41-year-old father is believed to have been arrested separately for drug-related offences.Neighbours said the family usually kept to themselves but would smile when residents bumped into them. They also said the boy had either three or four siblings.
The police said they received a call requesting for assistance at a unit at Block 149, Toa Payoh Lorong 1 at about 7.18am on Monday. When the police arrived at the flat, the boy was found lying motionless, and was pronounced dead by paramedics at scene.
When TODAY went down yesterday to the unit located on the 11th floor, the main door was locked and the windows were partially shuttered. Repeated knocks on the door went unanswered. Residents from nearby units said they did not hear any commotion on Monday, and while they were shocked at the news, they only learnt about it from Chinese newspapers on Monday evening.
A neighbour who wanted to be known only as Mr Chen said he had seen the parents of the boy around in the past few years. He said he seldom saw the father, but noticed that he seemed to be frequently at home in recent weeks.
Mr Chen, who lives three units away, said the boy’s mother borrowed S$50 from him about three years ago. She had knocked on his door and asked him for money, saying her eldest son was sick. The eldest son, he said, “was quite naughty” and used to throw the prayer cups outside his flat down the block, but he has not seen him around recently.
Another resident, Mr Bai, who lives four units away, described the boy’s mother as “small-sized” and his father as “slightly plump”.
The police are investigating the case as “unnatural death”, but said preliminary investigations showed that no foul play is suspected.
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/four-year-old-boy-found-dead-toa-payoh
