Helpless mum starves to death

27 October 2006

FOR days, the old woman watched her only caregiver and daughter's corpse rot in front of her. Madam Teoh Guat Hoe, 84 was reportedly so frail that she was not even able to shout for help from her neighbours. Her daughter, Ms Stella Ooi, 57, is believed to have died after falling from a chair, reported Guang Ming Daily.

Without her daughter to give her food and water, Madam Teoh eventually died of starvation.
Their rotting bodies were found on Tuesday afternoon, after neighbours complained of a stench from their two-storey terrace house in Ipoh. They are said to have died seven to 10 days earlier. A neighbour, Madam Zhong Yamei, said she had at first thought that the smell was from a rotting cat or dog. But when she peeked into the house and saw Madam Teoh lying unresponsively on her bed, she called the police.

BODIES IN SAME ROOM

The police found Ms Ooi's highly-decomposed body lying face-down in the living room.
Her emaciated mother, who was in adult diapers, was lying dead on her bed facing Ms Ooi's body. Madam Teoh's right eye was also decomposing by that time. Police are ruling out a possible break-in, as the bodies showed no signs of struggle and there were no signs of robbery.

According to Madam Zhong, 70, Madam Teoh has been bedridden for almost six years, after a fall at home. Madam Teoh was unable to speak and relied heavily on her daughter to take care of her. The pair kept to themselves and rarely spoke to neighbours, she said.
Madam Zhong also said that Madam Teoh has four other children, including a son who used to visit them often. Madam Teoh is suspected to have starved to death, but the cause of Ms Ooi's death could not be ascertained because her body was too decomposed.

Although this is a 3-day old story, reading it the second time still makes me feel so sad for them.