SINGAPORE – The police are investigating a case of a teenager found living in a wet market stall for almost a year.
Stall owners at the Circuit Road Market and Food Centre said the girl, who barely spoke and merely gestured, relieved herself in pails in the stall as she would not leave even to use the toilet.
They said she lived in the stall, which measures around two by three metres, with her father who rented it.
The Straits Times understands that the girl and her father are Singapore permanent residents.
The stall owners, who declined to be named, said National Environment Agency (NEA) officers conducting checks at the market in early April noticed the girl.
The police said they received a call for assistance on April 4 at Block 80 Circuit Road, which is the address of the market.
A 63-year-old man is assisting with investigations into ill-treatment of a child or young person by neglect under the Children and Young Persons Act, said the police.
Those convicted can be jailed for up to eight years, fined up to $8,000, or both.
A Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) spokesman said NEA reported the case to the ministry’s Child Protective Service (CPS) on April 3.
The MSF spokesman said: “CPS arranged for the child to be admitted to a hospital for medical assessment, and is looking into alternative care arrangements for the child after her discharge to ensure her safety and well-being.”
The spokesman said MSF will not provide additional information as police investigations are ongoing and to protect the privacy of the child and family.
Speaking to ST on April 19, MacPherson MP Tin Pei Ling, under whose constituency the wet market comes, said MSF told her the girl had been living in the stall for 11 months.
Ms Tin said NEA informed her about this case in early April and she was shocked when she first heard about it.
She said: “I regularly visit this market and there was nothing unusual that I had noticed. In fact, I had just visited the market stalls during the Chinese New Year period.
“I am really concerned because the girl is so young. So, I have been checking in with MSF to get updates and to check on how she is doing.”
When ST visited the market on April 19, the three units that stall owners said were rented by the girl’s father were shuttered.