Unnatural death in Chinatown: Police investigating if contents of cooking pot are human remains
Residents say there had been a strong smell in the corridor for two weeks before the police were notified.
In what could potentially be a gruesome discovery, police are investigating if the contents found in a cooking pot are human remains.
The pot and its contents were removed by investigators from a one-room rental flat on the eighth storey of Block 52 Chin Swee Road on Tuesday.
Police said they were alerted to the unnatural death at about 8.30pm.
Citing unnamed sources, Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday that a human foetus is suspected to have been cooked in the pot.
Residents who spoke to The New Paper yesterday said the block, which overlooks the State Courts building, was a quiet one, and that the police have been going from door to door interviewing residents for the past three days.
When TNP visited the unit yesterday afternoon, it appeared to be empty and its gate had also been padlocked with a thick chain.
A red book with religious text was spotted resting on the top frame of the gate.
A resident on the eighth storey who wanted to be known only as Ms Chong, a receptionist in her 40s, said there had been a strong smell in the corridor for two weeks before the police were notified.
She said: "I don't know how to describe it, but the smell was unsettling. It is something I have never smelled before."
She added that the police had asked her on Tuesday evening if she knew who lived in the unit and if she had heard any quarrelling, but she told them she was unsure.
Other neighbours living on the same floor told TNP they believed the unit had been rented out illegally.
A 68-year-old part-time banquet worker who did not want to be identified said a couple with young children had lived in the unit previously, but they moved out sometime in the first half of the year.
"A slightly plump man who looked to be in his 30s moved in four months ago and he lives by himself," she told TNP in Mandarin.
"Whenever I walked past, his gate and door would be open, and he would often be watching television and laughing loudly to himself."
Wanbao reported that the police are believed to be looking for a couple to further assist in investigations.
Police investigations are ongoing.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now