A SHROUD of mystery surrounds the events leading up to the death of an Indian shipyard worker who fell 15 storeys from a flat after Deepavali celebrations last year.

That evening, Subramanian Rajkumar, 21, fell out of a bedroom window in the Jurong West flat he shared with 24 other workers after allegedly arguing with someone else.

He had been in Singapore for only nine months.

A year later, questions as to what specifically led to his fall still cannot be answered with surety.

On Friday, State Coroner Victor Yeo returned an open verdict on his death.

He said: 'What I find perplexing from the investigations was that no one is able to say or point out who the deceased was alleged to be finding fault with.'

He also said that the supervisor's testimony 'seeks to corroborate' the boss' account of what happened.

Mr Yeo added that he will leave it to the Attorney-General's Chambers to review the evidence and findings to decide on what action to take.

On Nov 7 last year, Rajkumar and his housemates invited their boss Mr Tan Seng Chwee, 45, supervisor Tan Geok Chong, 43, and company driver to their flat at Block 639 Jurong West Street 61 to celebrate Deepavali with them.

The workers were employed by Ban Soon Li Marine Engineering, which Tan Seng Chwee co-owns with a partner.

At about 8pm, the men arrived and the party started with beer and food being served.

Just as they were about to leave over an hour later, their boss realised that his slippers were missing and went back into the flat to look for them.

From then on, different versions of what happened were told in court by various witnesses who took to the stand.

It led Mr Yeo to describe the accounts as being 'riddled with inconsistencies'.

For instance, the boss and supervisor claimed that Rajkumar was drunk and stirred trouble with his fellow workers. The boss who had just entered the flat grabbed Rajkumar by the neck and brought him into a bedroom and told him to go sleep.

He said he left the room after he thought Rajkumar had fallen asleep.

However, in their testimonies, workers said they had heard Rajkumar shout 'save me' in Tamil.

They also said that their supervisor who stood outside the slightly ajar bedroom door, prevented them from entering it.

But when they continued to hear Rajkumar's cries for help, they pushed their way in.

They saw their boss sitting on top of Rajkumar and holding on to his hands in restraint.

One worker, Krishnan James Pandiyan, 29, told the court that he had smacked Rajkumar on his thigh when he entered the room. He said he did this as he thought Rajkumar had started a fight with their boss, who was a guest in their house.

Pandiyan added that as Rajkumar lay on the ground, he told him that their boss was trying to sodomise him but he ignored him.

The men were asked to leave the room with their supervisor standing guard at the door. According to the workers, Rajkumar shouted for help again.

Minutes later, their boss emerged and Rajkumar was nowhere to be seen in the room.

The boss said that as he opened the door, he turned around to see Rajkumar clinging on a window sill but was unable to save him.

Why Rajkumar jumped just as the boss was about to open the door is something Mr Yeo called 'perplexing'.

He added that he has not ruled out the possibility that Rajkumar was frightened, and while under the influence of alcohol, tried to escape through the window.