SINGAPORE — The Coroner’s Inquiry into the death of teenager Benjamin Lim began on Tuesday (May 17). During the proceedings, the State Counsel provided a detailed timeline of the events leading up to the schoolboy’s death on January 26.

JAN 25, 2016: THE ALLEGED MOLEST

• 4.25pm: An 11-year-old girl lodges a complaint at the Yishun North Neighbourhood Police Centre, alleging that she had been molested in the lift of her HDB block. The male culprit had followed her into the lift and dropped his mobile phone, which he then bent down to pick up. The girl claimed that she felt a ‘soft tap’ on her left buttock and when she glanced down, she saw the culprit’s hand moving away from her.

• Using CCTV footage, police officers saw that the culprit was wearing the PE attire of North View Secondary School.

JAN 26, 2016: ENQUIRIES AT NORTH VIEW SECONDARY SCHOOL

• 9.45am: Five police officers visit North View Secondary School to establish the identity of the subject. Dressed in civilian attire, they arrive in unmarked cars.

• The school’s staff suspect that Benjamin is the person seen in the CCTV footage, as he was the only student in the school known to wear red-framed spectacles.

• The school and police agree that:

(i) A staff member of the school was to speak to Benjamin first

(ii) Only one police officer was to interview Benjamin

(iii) The interview was to be conducted in the presence of a staff member

• 10am: The school’s discipline mistress, who had previously taught Benjamin, approaches him in the canteen. He is seated alone. She speaks to him and invites him to see the school’s principal, Mr Chen Fook Pang. There are no students near Benjamin and the discipline mistress ensures that no one overhears their conversation.

• At the principal’s office, Mr Chen reassures Benjamin and speaks to him to obtain basic facts. One police officer then interviews Benjamin in the presence of the school’s staff and obtains an initial account of what had happened in the lift. Benjamin explains that he may have accidentally touched a girl in a lift as he was picking up his phone, which he had dropped.

• Benjamin calls his mother to inform her of what was happening. He displays visible signs of stress as his mother speaks to him very loudly.

• A decision is made to bring Benjamin to the Ang Mo Kio Police Division to further assist in investigations. He is not handcuffed or restrained throughout the journey.

JAN 26, 2016: INTERVIEW AND ARREST

• Benjamin is interviewed by a senior investigation officer at the officer’s open plan workstation. The interview and statement recording process is visible to anyone who walks past the area.

• Benjamin admits that he had followed the victim into a lift, where he had deliberately dropped his mobile phone and taken the opportunity to touch her thigh while standing up.

• Benjamin is placed under arrest and brought to a temporary holding area, where he waits for his bail to be processed.

• 2.50pm: Benjamin is released to his mother’s custody. On the way home, she asks Benjamin to tell her if he had molested the victim. Benjamin says that he did not and that he did not know what had happened. Mrs Lim tells him that he should not have admitted to molesting the girl if he had not done so. Benjamin says that if people said that he did it, then he did it.

JAN 26, 2016: EVENTS AT HOME

• 3.30pm: Mrs Lim and her son reach their house at 3.30pm. After a shower and a meal, Benjamin begins playing games at the dining table. His sister is in the living room, while Mrs Lim is performing chores.

• 4.13pm: Mrs Lim receives a call from the school counsellor. There are two differing accounts as to what transpired during this phone call. According to the counsellor, the school suggested that it would be good for Benjamin to not attend a school camp and be with his family instead. An email sent by the counsellor to Mr Chen, the school’s principal, tallies with this account. However, according to Mrs Lim, the counsellor told her that the school had decided not to let Benjamin attend the camp, preferring him to stay home to do e-learning instead. Mrs Lim conveyed this account to reporters.

• After the call, Mrs Lim tells Benjamin that the school did not allow him to go to the camp. Benjamin acknowledges this and continues to play games.

Mrs Lim begins washing the common toilet, which is opposite Benjamin’s room. Five minutes later, she sees that the door to her son’s room is closed. She tries to open the door but finds it locked. Her daughter joins her and they knock on the door repeatedly, asking Benjamin to open the door, but receive no response. Mrs Lim then uses a spare key to open the door.

• They find a window open and that a desk fan normally found on a table in front of the window had been moved to the floor. Benjamin’s phone is on his bed but he is nowhere to be seen. Suspecting that he had jumped from the window, Mrs Lim rushes downstairs with her daughter. When they arrive downstairs, they find Benjamin lying on the ground in front of their block. Police officers are at the scene.

• 4.36pm: Benjamin is pronounced dead.