SINGAPORE – Ms Xu Na weighed a mere 24kg when her body was found in a Sengkang flat, and likely died of starvation and dehydration, said a police inspector on March 31.
Ms Xu, 48, suffered from psychosis and would often refuse to eat or drink as she was paranoid about being poisoned, said Police Inspector 2 Irfan Al-Nazirul, testifying at a coroner’s inquiry into the deaths of Ms Xu Na and her father, Mr Xu Baolu, 74.
Their bodies were found on Oct 6, 2025, in an HDB flat on the eighth floor of Block 324D Sengkang East Way.
Evidence showed that both deaths were due to natural causes, with no foul play. There were no injuries or evidence of trauma on Ms Xu’s body.
No food was found in the unit, except for some condiments in the fridge, said Insp Irfan.
The house also did not have a stove. A relative told the police that Mr Xu removed it for the safety of his daughter, said the police inspector.
Ms Xu was last seen in public on June 29, 2025, at a convenience store, where she had difficulty communicating with police officers and could not recall her address. She had only $5.77 in her ez-link card then.
But investigations showed that Ms Xu was alive till after Aug 30, as she likely had removed a town council notice that was pasted on her front door on Aug 28.
The town council had received complaints in July about a foul smell coming from a cluster of units, and had sent someone to paste notices on several units on Aug 28.
On Aug 30, town council representatives inspected the units and found the notice still pasted on the door of the Xus’ flat. There was also no foul smell emanating from the unit.
When the authorities discovered the bodies on Oct 6, the notice was found strewn among newspapers and other items in the flat.
It is believed that Ms Xu had likely removed the notice from the front door and taken it into the flat before her death.
Her father, Mr Xu, is believed to have died after June 3, 2025. His cause of death, however, was undetermined as only his skeletal remains were found in the flat.
Mr Xu’s bank records showed he last made a cash withdrawal of $500 on June 3. There was no other activity after that, save for automatic deductions for bills.
