Jail for man who failed to report finding girlfriend’s body in condo, used his hands to close her eyes

About four hours later, Hong texted the woman’s sister to say that she was uncontactable.

The sister did not recognise the phone number Hong used to text her. She also did not think that anything was amiss, having met the woman the previous weekend, and knowing that it was normal for her to be uncontactable, the court heard.

On April 27, 2024, the sister visited the condominium unit and discovered the woman’s decomposing body.

The final cause of death was unascertained, as the body was in a state of severe decomposition.

Traffic offences

Separately, Hong was found to be driving with a revoked licence when he got into a traffic accident on Jan 26, 2022.

He was driving along Upper Serangoon Road before Hougang Avenue 5 at about 2.20pm when he failed to notice a taxi in front of him.

His car rear-ended the taxi, causing its bumper to crumple inwards.

When asked by the victim for his particulars, Hong gave him a false name. He also called his friend and instructed him to take the blame.

When questioned by the Traffic Police, Hong told them in two recorded statements that his friend was the driver at the time of the accident.

On July 23, 2024, he told officers that he lent his friend the car, and later walked to the scene after he found out about the accident.

In the second statement a month later on Aug 23, he insisted that what he said was true, despite being asked if he knew that giving a false statement was an offence.

Hong’s lie was uncovered after further investigations were conducted. Photos and videos taken by the victim after the accident showed that Hong was the only adult in the car at that time.

For Hong’s four charges, the prosecution sought a total sentence of at least three months’ imprisonment, a $600 to $800 fine, and 12 months’ disqualification from driving.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Vishnu Menon noted that the woman who died was not a stranger, but someone whom Hong was closely connected to as they were in a relationship.

He added: “With his messages to (her sister), he perpetuated the impression that the deceased was still alive.”

On the charge of obstruction of justice, the prosecutor said Hong committed the offence out of “selfish motivation of avoiding his own liability for the predicate offences”.

“The offence was committed with persistence, as he doubled down on his false claim in two statements to the police.”

In mitigation, Hong’s lawyers, Ms Azeera Ali and Mr Ashwin Ganapathy from the Public Defender’s Office, said he deeply regrets causing distress to his girlfriend’s family and wants to apologise to them.

For failing to report a death to the police, an offender can be fined up to $1,500, jailed for up to a month, or both.

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