Megan Khung case: 2 police officers were under pressure & didn’t follow established operating procedure

Police officers who handled Megan Khung case failed to escalate it to case review sessions: Goh Pei Ming

The police officers who handled the case of four-year-old Megan Khung were under pressure, said Minister of State for Home Affairs and Social and Family Development Goh Pei Ming.

They did not follow the established operating procedure, resulting in a tragic outcome, he added.

Megan eventually died in February 2020, more than a month after the first police report, after suffering horrific abuse at the hands of her mother and her mother’s boyfriend.

Officers failed to escalate Megan Khung case after 1st police report

Mr Goh spoke in Parliament on Wednesday (5 Nov) in response to questions from MPs about the case.

He noted that Megan’s grandmother had first made a police report in January 2020.

An independent review panel reported that someone withdrew the girl from preschool, after which her whereabouts were unknown.

However, the Investigation Officer (IO) and her supervisor failed to escalate the case to the regular case review sessions for monitoring and guidance, as part of police procedure.

IO assessed case based on information she was presented with

Mr Goh noted that the IO had assessed the case as one of “child discipline with low safety concerns”.

He added that the IO made this assessment based on the information she had at the time.

Over the next two weeks, she tried to contact Megan’s mother but was unable to.

She was then redeployed for COVID-19-related duties and did not follow up on the case.

Further police reports in July 2020 referred to case review

However, the police would usually have followed up on Megan’s case if the IO and her supervisor had escalated the case to the regular case review sessions in the first place, Mr Goh said.

The girl’s father and grandmother filed further police reports in July 2020 — five months after her death.

These reports were referred to the regular case review sessions, which eventually resulted in Megan’s death being discovered and the perpetrators being arrested.

Demands on police ‘continue to increase’

Mr Goh noted that while police take their “heavy responsibility to protect lives” seriously, the demands made on them continue to increase.

He pointed out that in the course of their duties, officers have to make difficult judgment calls every day, adding:

When under pressure, mistakes can happen.

In Megan’s case, the two police officers who handled it were under pressure, the minister of state maintained.

Both officers disciplined for ‘serious breach’

Thus, they did not follow the established operating procedure, causing a lapse, Mr Goh said, adding:

It was a serious breach, and it resulted in a tragic outcome.

He pledged that the police would “learn from this” and reinforce procedures and training for officers.

The police conducted internal investigations and disciplined both officers, and the IO subsequently resigned from the force.

Girl died in Feb 2020, body disposed of

Megan died in Feb 2020, after her mother’s boyfriend punched her in the stomach.

Her body was sealed for months at a unit in Suites @ Guillemard, a condo along Lim Ah Woo Road off Guillemard Road.

In May 2020, her body was burned in a metal barrel, her ashes discarded into the sea off East Coast Park, and the barrel was dumped at Tampines Link.

Investigators have not found her remains or the barrel. The court jailed both of them and ordered caning for the man.

Also read: MSF apologises over death of 4-year-old Megan Khung, resolves to prevent repeat of such tragedies

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