A 48-year-old man will be charged today with the alleged murder of a 43-year-old woman in a Sengkang condominium yesterday.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the duo were known to each other, said the police.

Several residents said they witnessed what happened and added that the man also threw a dog from the balcony of the couple's third-floor unit.

The police received a call for help at 12.07pm at 125 Compassvale Bow, the address of the Esparina Residences condominium.

When they arrived, the woman was found unresponsive in the unit and was later pronounced dead by paramedics.

Residents told The Straits Times (ST) that the couple lived in a third-floor unit and were often seen walking around holding hands.

The man is Caucasian, while the woman is believed to be from the Philippines, they said.

The couple were seen sitting and talking at their balcony yesterday morning.

At around 11am, an argument broke out, said a maid who lives in an opposite block. She added that the commotion lasted more than 15 minutes.

Alarmed by what she saw, the maid told her employer, who contacted the condo's security officers.

They were later seen approaching the couple's unit.

Other residents also saw what happened, including one who lives in a 15th-floor unit facing the couple's block.

The commotion appeared to die down after a while, then a dog was heard barking.

The man appeared again on the balcony, this time carrying a dog.

A female resident said she saw the man throw the dog over the balcony onto the pavement on the ground floor.

Another resident showed ST a photo of the small, white dog lying in a pool of blood. Several residents said the dog had died.

They added that the couple had been living in the condominium for several years and that a child would occasionally stay with them.

Police investigations are under way.