SINGAPORE: In Parliament on Wednesday (Nov 4), Minister of State for House Affairs and Social and Household Growth Goh Pei Ming mentioned {that a} severe breach had occurred within the case of Megan Khung, the four-year-old woman who died in February 2020 after greater than a 12 months of abuse by her mom, Foo Li Ping, and her mom’s then-boyfriend, Brian Wong.
“It was a severe breach, and it resulted in a tragic consequence. The police will study from this and reinforce procedures and coaching for its officers,” Mr Goh mentioned.
Mr Goh answered questions raised by Members of Parliament (MPs) within the wake of the findings of a evaluate panel on Megan’s case that had been launched on Oct 23. He recounted that in 2020, after the invention of Megan’s stays, the police reviewed how they’d dealt with the case.
The primary police report was filed in January 2020 by Megan’s grandmother. That July, the grandmother filed one other report, as did Megan’s father, Simon Khung.
“The investigation officer (IO) who handled the primary police report, and her supervisor, didn’t observe police procedures to escalate the case to the common case evaluate classes for monitoring and steering. The IO had assessed this as a case of kid self-discipline with low security considerations based mostly on the data that she was introduced with on the time,” Mr Goh mentioned.
Within the two weeks following the report’s receipt, the IO tried to contact the kid’s mom however couldn’t. She didn’t observe up on Megan’s case after that, having been assigned to COVID-19-related duties.
Mr Goh underlined, nevertheless, that if the IO and her supervisor had escalated the case to common case evaluate classes, it might have been adopted up no matter redeployment to different duties.
Following the next police experiences filed by the kid’s grandmother and father, Megan’s case was referred to the common case evaluate classes, which Mr Goh mentioned finally led to the invention of the little woman’s dying and the arrest of her mom and Brian Wong.
He added that after Meghan’s case got here to mild in 2020, the police launched inside investigations, and the IO and her supervisor had been each disciplined. After this, the IO resigned.
“Our frontline law enforcement officials bear a heavy accountability to guard lives. They take this accountability critically and carry out their duties with dedication and professionalism. The calls for on our Cops proceed to extend. They usually must make troublesome judgment calls each day in the middle of their duties. When beneath stress, errors can occur,” mentioned Mr Goh.
He added that the lapse occurred as a result of two officers, beneath stress, didn’t observe established police procedures.
On Apr 3, 2025, Foo acquired a 19-year jail sentence for the incidents earlier than, after, and resulting in the dying of her youngster. In the meantime, Wong, who had delivered the deadly blow to Megan’s abdomen, was sentenced to 17 strokes of the cane and 30 years’ jail for his half, in addition to for drug trafficking and consumption. /TISG
Learn additionally: After Megan Khung case, WP’s Andre Low to lift questions in Parliament on how SG youngsters will be higher protected
