1 week jail for man who found his girlfriend dead in her condo unit but failed to report it to the police

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man who discovered his girlfriend dead in her Hougang residence last year but failed to report her death to the authorities was jailed for one week on Monday (Nov 17).

Jason Hong Kai Qi, 34, also received sentences for unrelated traffic offences from 2022, bringing his total jail term to three months and one week, plus a S$1,000 fine and a one-year driving ban.

Hong pleaded guilty to four charges, including one count of failing to report a death and one count of obstruction of justice. His original charge of concealing a corpse was later downgraded to failure to report the death.

The 33-year-old victim’s name has been redacted from court documents to protect the identities of her children from a previous marriage under the Children and Young Persons Act.

On Apr 23, 2024, Hong went to the woman’s condominium unit at Riverfront Residences in Hougang Avenue 7 after she stopped responding to his messages. The couple had been dating for some time, and he occasionally stayed over.

He arrived shortly after 4 p.m. and found the flat in disarray. The bedroom was dark, with lights off and curtains drawn. He called out but got no reply.

Hong found the woman lying in bed with her blanket pulled up to her chin. He administered one puff from her inhaler, noticed white residue around her mouth, attempted chest compressions, and closed her partially open eyes when she remained unresponsive. He realised she had died but did not call the police.

Instead, he gathered some personal belongings, took them to his car, and left his access card in a sealed envelope in a shoe rack outside the unit.

Hours later, he messaged the woman’s sister on WhatsApp, saying he could not contact his girlfriend. The sister, who had seen the deceased the previous weekend and knew she sometimes went incommunicado, was not immediately concerned.

Four days later, on Apr 27, the sister visited the unit with the woman’s two children. They noticed a foul odour, found the woman unresponsive, and called emergency services, who confirmed the death.

Due to the advanced decomposition, the cause of death could not be determined, and no disease that might have contributed was found.

Hong’s lawyers told the court he regretted not being more forthcoming with the family and causing them distress.

The maximum penalty for failing to report a death is one month’s jail, a S$1,500 fine, or both. /TISG

Read also: Middle-aged man surrenders to police after strangling ‘controlling’ girlfriend to death