Identity of man found dead at home still a mystery

A man’s adult sons knew him as “Abdul Rahman Bin Majid” only to find out after his death that he had assumed someone else’s identity.

Investigations revealed that the real Abdul Rahman Bin Majid, who has the same identity card number as the dead man, is still alive and has been living at a home since 1994 due to chronic schizophrenia, court documents said.

Fingerprints taken from the real Abdul Rahman matched the ones linked to the identity card while those taken from the dead man could not be found in the local database.

In his findings uploaded online on May 14, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said that the identity of the dead man, who died of coronary artery disease and an enlarged heart, remains unknown.

Recording an open verdict on the case, he said the man’s 10 fingerprints were sent to Malaysian and Indonesian authorities for comparison with their national databases.

Both jurisdictions later replied that there was no match in their databases.

His fingerprints were also sent to Thai authorities for comparison on Aug 15, 2023.

The state coroner said that as at May 8, 2024, the Thai authorities had not replied despite multiple reminders.

He added: “If a reply is subsequently received which positively identifies the deceased, this case will be reopened.”

In earlier proceedings in July 2023, an investigation officer told the court that on Aug 5, 2022, the police received a call from one of the man’s sons who found that his father had stopped breathing in the living room of their Geylang Bahru flat.

A paramedic pronounced him dead later that day.

This son was identified in court documents as Mr Farizal, but he and the mystery man’s wife, known as Madam Seri, could not take part in the investigations as they had been diagnosed with undisclosed psychiatric conditions.

Mr Farizal has three brothers who were also the mystery man’s sons. They were identified as Mr Iskandar, Mr Baharuddin and Mr Razef.

One of the man’s sons was not named in court documents and he was a baby when another family adopted him.

Mr Iskandar had told investigators that he did not recall his father visiting a doctor and the older man had never spoken about his own relatives.

Mr Baharuddin said that the mystery man was an abusive father who had not gone to hospitals for medical attention.

Mr Razef recalled that their father had never visited a hospital or clinic. He was also unaware of any paternal relatives.

State Coroner Nakhoda said in his findings that the sons had always known their father as “Abdul Rahman Bin Majid”.

The only identification documents found in the unit after his death were an old construction pass and a bank card, both of which had the name “Abdul Rahman Bin Majid”, or its shorter form, printed on them.

The pass also bore the identity card number that the man had assumed as his own.

State Coroner Nakhoda said: “Why the deceased chose to use the name “Abdul Rahman Bin Majid” and the NRIC (National Registration Identity Card) number is unclear and to try to formulate reasons in the absence of evidence would be speculative.

“The actual Mr Rahman is alive and is a resident at (a home). However, he is suffering from schizophrenia and is unable to provide any insight into how the deceased came to assume his name and NRIC number.”

He also noted that Mr Iskandar and Madam Seri had stated that they did not know the real Mr Abdul Rahman and had never seen him in the past.

However, there was some indication from Mr Farizal, through Mr Baharuddin, that their father had come to Singapore from Malaysia.

Their father also had a “close friend” from Malaysia. This man had addressed the mystery man as “Kassim”, and Mr Razef recalled that he was last seen during Hari Raya in 2019.

In addition, several other individuals, including Madam Seri’s younger sister, had told investigators that her family also addressed the mystery man as “Kassim”.

State Coroner Nakhoda said: “As such, it was possible that the deceased’s real name was Kassim... Without a valid name or NRIC number, the deceased would not have been able to avail himself of services, including medical treatment at polyclinics or restructured hospitals.”

He also noted that the man had been suffering from chronic illnesses but they remained undiagnosed as he was unable to seek medical attention.