a A Singaporean man has been arrested and jailed for stealing from a corpse.
Ng Hoe Ngi, 52, found the body of a 22-year-old man at the base of the building and stole his belongings, CNA reported.
After stealing these items, Ng destroyed some important evidence for the police investigation into the young man’s death.
According to court documents, Ng discovered the young man’s body at around 1:20 p.m. on August 12, 2023, covered it with cardboard and took his wallet, which was lying nearby.
Police arrived at the scene soon after, and Ng told them what he had seen and handed over his wallet.
Investigation revealed that the deceased jumped from the upper part of the building after visiting his family. He was carrying a haversack before his death.
Curious about his death, Ng went to the 15th floor of the building and later found the dead man’s haversack on the upper floor, which she hid in a box and placed outside her father’s apartment.
The next day, Ng discovered the haversack contained a laptop, two mobile phones, a notebook and several other items.
Examining the notes, he found a troubling note stating that the deceased felt “possessed” by something or someone, as well as “feeling pain and struggling with his beliefs and faith.” I found a memo.
Ng kept only the electronic devices found in the haversack and threw away the other items, including the disturbing note. He then paid someone his S$70 (RM247.81), reset the password-protected phone, removed the SIM card and started using his one of the phones.
During the investigation into the 22-year-old’s death, police were unable to locate Mr Ng, so they issued a gazette to find anyone willing to help with the investigation.
On September 7, 2023, police approached Mr Ng during a routine inspection in East Jurong and noticed that he had been gazetted. The stolen items were quickly recovered when the matter was referred to investigators investigating the death of a 22-year-old man.
The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to one count each of dishonest misappropriation of property and dishonest misappropriation of deceased property.
While commuting his sentence, Ng apologized for his crimes, citing financial problems as the reason and justifying destroying the deceased’s personal notes because his suffering should not be known to the public.
On February 7 this year, he was sentenced to four months and four weeks in prison.