In the space of just two weeks, Supainah Kasman's life fell apart.

Two weeks ago her eldest son, 29-year-old Muhammad Saifudin Abdul Motalib - the family breadwinner - died suddenly in their three-room flat in Silat Walk.

Shockingly, she and her younger son Hamzah, 27, who are both mentally ill, had no idea what to do, so they left his body where it fell for a whole week.

The grisly discovery was made only after a family friend visited and asked about the son, only to be told, "He's dead for a week now. If you don't believe me, come inside and see for yourself."

Now, Supainah and Hamzah have been admitted to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

Inter-viewed by The Straits Times on February 4 Supainah seemed unable to comprehend what had happened.

"I checked on him every five minutes," she said. "I boil water then I see him, he is still sleeping."

Asked why she did not seek help, she said, "I pressed his chest three times and he can still breathe, so I leave him, lah."

Though it is hard to comprehend how a family could have harboured a corpse undetected for so long, neighbours at their Kampong Bahru walk-up flat described them as "withdrawn".

Supainah and her two sons had been living in the flat for more than 20 years. They began isolating themselves after husband Abdul Motalib died about seven years ago.

Neighbour Aggie Teng was horrified to discover she was living so near a dead body.

"Their door is always locked. We only knew someone had died when the police came and took the body away," up-stairs neighbour Tan Kok Guan said.

Family friend Mohamed Yazzid Bahari visited them once a week as part of the Al-Amin Mosque volunteer outreach programme.

He noticed the "bad smell" when he arrived for his most recent visit.

Supainah told him her son had been dead for a week at that time.

Yazzid left without checking the flat and reported what she had told him.

Mosque officials and police and civil defence officers arrived the next day. The family refused to open the door.

Mosque manager Mohamed Johan Janif said, "The brother was giving all sorts of nonsensical excuses. By then, there was no denying the smell of a rotting corpse."

The Straits Times/

Asia News Network

SINGAPORE