Coroner’s inquiry into Sengkang deaths: Daughter weighed only 24kg and likely died of starvation
Claudia Tan
The Straits Times
March 31, 2026
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.
Although Ms Xu survived for several months after her father’s death, she was in a vulnerable mental state and unable to function independently.
The police inspector cited a report from the Institute of Mental Health, which stated that she suffered from psychosis with auditory hallucinations.
Neighbours whom police spoke to also said that they would see Ms Xu exhibiting unusual behaviour, making strange noises and singing to herself.
They added that both father and daughter were reclusive and avoided social interactions.
Three of the Xu family’s relatives from China also provided accounts of Ms Xu’s deteriorating mental health, citing an incident where she refused to eat or drink when she visited them in China in 2017 as she had feared being poisoned.
Timeline of events
- June 3, 2025: Mr Xu Baolu withdraws $500 from his bank account; believed to have died shortly after that;
- June 29, 2025: Ms Xu Na is seen at a convenience store with only $5.77 in her ez-link card; has difficulty communicating her address to police officers;
- July 2025: Town council receives complaints about a foul smell from a cluster of units at Block 324D Sengkang East Way;
- Aug 28, 2025: Town council representative pastes a notice on the front door of several flats in the block;
- Aug 30, 2025: Town council officials go to Ms Xu’s unit, where the notice is still pasted on the front door. No foul smell is detected from the unit. Ms Xu is believed to have retrieved the notice from her front door some time after that, before her death;
- Oct 6, 2025: Police discover the bodies of the father and daughter in the unit after one of the neighbours makes a police report about a leak from the ceiling, which turns out to be caused by fluids from the decomposing bodies.
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