For six long years, an old woman in Taiwan kept a chilling secret from her neighbours — she was living with an preserving the body of her deceased daughter by turning on the air-conditioner every day.
As expected, it came as a shock to residents when the news came out in the open, who never thought such a thing would occur.
Taiwan woman keeps aircon turned on for 6 years to preserve corpse
According to a report by Taiwan’s United Daily News, the 75-year-old woman surnamed Lee had moved into an apartment located in Taipei’s Ruifang district approximately seven to eight years ago, where she lived on the third floor.
Neighbours told the news portal that Lee was often seen going out shopping but rarely spoke to other residents, leading them to think she was living all alone.
Xie Yongchang, head of the neighbourhood residents’ committee, said he had tried to visit Lee previously but discovered her unit didn’t have a doorbell.
He added he had only seen Lee about two or three times, and she didn’t turn up to collect her Double Ninth Festival gift for the elderly.
But unbeknownst to them, Lee was actually keeping the body of her daughter at home after she passed away six years ago.
It was later revealed that her daughter had expressed her wish not to be buried before she died, leading Lee to put her body inside a room with the air-conditioner running as well as wiping her body daily.
However, Lee reportedly suffered a stroke, rendering her unable to clean the body. She later confessed to a social worker about her secret after she was no longer able to afford the electricity bills.
Homicide ruled out in incident
Police later turned up at Lee’s apartment after receiving a report, where they found the dried up corpse of her daughter which appeared to have an oil coating on it.
Following a preliminary investigation, police ruled out homicide based on Lee’s testimony regarding her daughter’s religious beliefs and not wanting to be buried, as well as the corpse and house’s condition.
However, another autopsy is scheduled to be carried out to determine what caused Lee’s daughter to pass away.
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