A Singaporean woman has taken to social media to accuse a police officer of behaving inappropriately next to the body of her deceased relative.
The woman, Tracy Lim, confirmed to Coconuts today that a masked male police officer posed with his hands up in ‘V’ signs next to her deceased auntie while conducting an investigation into her death in Serangoon yesterday evening.
“I took this photo to inform my family members of my aunt’s passing. I didn’t realize that the police officer [posed] in the photo until my [brother] informed me about it,” she said.
Last night, Lim took to Facebook to post her complaint about the incident, which took place at Blk 218 Serangoon Avenue 4 around 6:51pm.
She attached a photo showing two officers gathering under a block in an area cordoned off with police tape. A blue tarp, similar to tents used to cover dead bodies, can be seen beside them.
“Dear Singapore Police Force, is this how police officers are supposed to treat a deceased? By posing ✌️✌️ like the body beside was nothing but a background or an accessory to a photo?” Lim wrote last night.
Lim said the officer was standing beside her auntie lying “motionless” on the ground after taking her life. She blasted the police force for not providing proper training to their officers.
“This is the worst thing that can happen when you found your family member on the ground, lifeless, only to see a police officer making fun of it. How shameful. Shame of you, SPF. Shame on how you train your police officers,” she wrote.
A representative of the Singapore Police Force told Coconuts that they are aware of the matter and are looking into it.
After this story was published, the police put out a statement saying that they have apologized to the family of the deceased. They admitted that the officer behaved inappropriately and will be taking disciplinary actions against him.
“While the officer was not taking a photo of himself at the scene, he had responded inappropriately to the presence of onlookers in the vicinity,” they wrote.
Update: This story has been updated with a statement from SPF.
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