Man jailed for failing to report death of girlfriend

Later that day, Hong sent WhatsApp messages to his girlfriend’s sister, stating only that his girlfriend was uncontactable and not that she had died.

The girlfriend’s sister did not think that anything was amiss. She had just met her sister the weekend before, and it was normal for her sister to be uncontactable.

On Apr 27, 2024, four days after Hong visited the unit, his girlfriend’s sister went to the condominium unit with her sister’s two children.

Upon entering, the woman noticed a foul smell and discovered her sister lying unresponsive on the bed. She called for medical attention, and attending paramedics confirmed that her sister was dead.

As a result of Hong’s failure to report the death, the body was discovered only four days after his initial visit.

An autopsy was performed on the woman, but her final cause of death was unascertained, as her body was in a state of advanced decomposition and the findings revealed no obvious natural disease of the type or severity that might cause or contribute to death.

Hong also pleaded guilty to several charges in an unrelated case in January 2022, when he drove a car without a licence and collided with the back of a taxi.

He gave a different identity to the taxi driver and instructed his friend to lie that he had been driving instead, and take the blame.

Hong lied to the traffic police in two recorded statements about who was driving the car at the time, claiming that he had lent his car to his friend.

The prosecution sought three months’ jail for obstruction of justice in the traffic case and a short jail term for the failure to report death, along with a fine and driving ban.

MITIGATION

Hong was represented by Ms Azeera Ali and Mr Ashwin Ganapathy from the Public Defender’s Office.

They said Hong was in an “on-and-off relationship” with the deceased, and that he had panicked and attempted to administer first aid to her when he found her dead.

When she remained unresponsive, he was “confused and distraught”, said Ms Azeera.

The prosecutor had made a response to a point in mitigation, which stated that Hong did not intentionally perpetuate the impression that the deceased was still alive.

He said that the messages Hong sent to his girlfriend’s sister were trying to hide the fact that Hong had been in the unit.

One message asking the deceased to take care of herself “clearly communicates” the impression that Hong was trying to convey that the deceased was still alive, and cannot be chalked up to “mere panic”, said the prosecutor.

Ms Azeera said her client “does admit” and regrets that he did not clarify what he had seen at the unit.

However, he thought that the messages he sent were “sufficient” to get the sister to go and check on his girlfriend.

On hindsight, Hong accepts that he should have done more, said Ms Azeera.

She said Hong was in “a state of grief” and distress and did not wish to pass on the same grief and emotions to the sister.

In sentencing, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz said the offence of failing to report a reportable death is “rarely encountered”.

She said it would be helpful to understand the legislative intent. The purpose is to ensure that the police are promptly apprised of such deaths, so investigations are conducted without delay, said the judge.

It is designed to promote accountability and transparency of cases including unnatural deaths.

Hong’s actions meant that the deceased’s passing went undiscovered for four days and she was found in an advanced state of decomposition, said the judge.

The harm caused was “significant and irreversible”, she said, adding that she could not ignore the fact that Hong’s messages to the sister conveyed a false impression that the deceased was still alive but uncontactable.

This was “plainly misleading”, given that she had passed away, said the judge.

The penalties for failing to report a death to a police officer are a jail term of up to one month, a fine of up to S$1,500, or both.