A 30-year-old Bangladeshi man has faced a murder charge in court on Wednesday after police found a dead body of a woman at a hotel in Geylang at the weekend.
The accused, Ahmed Salim was charged with murdering a 34-year-old woman, Nurhidayati Wartono Surata. As reported the incident took place on Sunday, December 30 between 5.08 pm and 8.12 pm and the police were alerted to the case at around 10.45 pm.
When the police officials reached the crime scene they found the motionless body of Nurhidayati in a room at the hotel. Later, the paramedics checked the body and pronounced her dead. Further medical reports revealed that the paramedics found marks on her neck and bruises on her arms. However, within 14 hours of a report being made, police arrested Salim.
Even though the police said that Salim and the victim knew each other, the court documents did not reveal any details about the relationship.
As per Lianhe Wanbao, an unnamed hotel employee said that the accused and the victim had booked the room for three hours and later they extended it to five hours. The evening daily also reported that when the hotel staff went to check the room they found the dead body of Nurhidayati.
An unnamed hotel guest testified that he did not hear any commotion and came to know about the incident only after police knocked on his door to ask questions.
Ahmed was dressed in a red polo T-shirt while standing in the dock on Wednesday. He will be remanded at the Central Police Division. This case has been adjourned to January 9. But, if the court finds him guilty of murdering the woman then he will face the compulsory death penalty.
