A Bangladeshi cleaner did not ask for help from his friends in saving his lover from drowning in a rooftop water tank although he heard them come up there.

Mr Md Repon Mustafa, 29, did not think to do so because Ms Ruliyawati, a maid from Indonesia was already motionless by then. He revealed this at a coroner's inquiry into the case on Thursday afternoon. The 30-year-old woman's body was found submerged in the tank on top of a block of flats in Woodlands Drive 73 in May 2011 by police. She was later pronounced dead by paramedics.

His reply was in response to a question from lawyer Mohamed Muzammil on why he did not ask his three friends for help when he heard their voices, given that this was the "best opportunity" to do so. Mr Mohamed is acting under the instruction of the Indonesian embassy, on behalf of Ms Ruliyati's family.

Mr Muzammil continued to probe Mr Repon on this point. Mr Repon in response said through a Bengali translator: "I was not in my senses. I didn't know what to do." Mr Repon was arrested at the scene and initially charged with murder, but was later awarded a discharge not amounting to an acquittal. The coroner's inquiry continues.