<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Woman's death in bed a mystery
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Esther Tan
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THEY were a married couple who lived under the same roof, but led such separate lives that when 57-year-old Madam Liew Shak Hiong died in bed, her husband did not know it till the body began to smell.
The Coroner's Court heard yesterday that Mr Aw Hui Boon, 62, and his wife had slept in separate rooms for over 10 years.
The childless couple, who moved into their three-room Boon Lay flat over a year ago, seldom spoke to each other.
So when Mr Aw saw her in bed as he came home from work on the night of May 23 and as he left again the next morning, he found nothing amiss.
It was only when he got home late that night that he realised she was lying face up and motionless with a foul smell coming from her. Madam Liew was pronounced dead by paramedics at the couple's flat. There was a bottle of medicated oil beside her.
She had seemed fine when a neighbour, Madam Rahmah Mohd Noor, 56, saw her exercising outside her flat at around noon the day before.
But Mr Aw told the police that his wife, who was a vegetarian and thin, had felt weak for years. She had been complaining of pain and weakness in her legs but had not sought medical attention. Alexandra Hospital records showed she had been treated for symptoms of indigestion in 2003. She also had a chronic skin condition.
Police investigations said that Madam Rahmah had not heard any commotion before Madam Liew's death. Her room was intact when paramedics arrived, with no sign of violence. Autopsy reports showed no evidence of trauma or any unnatural cause of death. State Coroner Victor Yeo returned an open verdict on her death yesterday.
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Esther Tan
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THEY were a married couple who lived under the same roof, but led such separate lives that when 57-year-old Madam Liew Shak Hiong died in bed, her husband did not know it till the body began to smell.
The Coroner's Court heard yesterday that Mr Aw Hui Boon, 62, and his wife had slept in separate rooms for over 10 years.
The childless couple, who moved into their three-room Boon Lay flat over a year ago, seldom spoke to each other.
So when Mr Aw saw her in bed as he came home from work on the night of May 23 and as he left again the next morning, he found nothing amiss.
It was only when he got home late that night that he realised she was lying face up and motionless with a foul smell coming from her. Madam Liew was pronounced dead by paramedics at the couple's flat. There was a bottle of medicated oil beside her.
She had seemed fine when a neighbour, Madam Rahmah Mohd Noor, 56, saw her exercising outside her flat at around noon the day before.
But Mr Aw told the police that his wife, who was a vegetarian and thin, had felt weak for years. She had been complaining of pain and weakness in her legs but had not sought medical attention. Alexandra Hospital records showed she had been treated for symptoms of indigestion in 2003. She also had a chronic skin condition.
Police investigations said that Madam Rahmah had not heard any commotion before Madam Liew's death. Her room was intact when paramedics arrived, with no sign of violence. Autopsy reports showed no evidence of trauma or any unnatural cause of death. State Coroner Victor Yeo returned an open verdict on her death yesterday.
