4-year-old girl abuse case: Mother jailed 19 years, boyfriend who threw fatal punch jailed 30 years

Warning: This article contains details of child abuse that readers may find upsetting.

SINGAPORE: A woman who abused her four-year-old daughter for more than a year until the girl died, then helped burn her corpse, was sentenced to 19 years' jail on Thursday (Apr 3).

Foo Li Ping, 29, abused Megan Khung with her then-boyfriend, Wong Shi Xiang, 38, until the latter inflicted a fatal punch on Megan. 

For his role in Megan's death and other drug crimes, Wong was jailed for 30 years and given 17 strokes of the cane. 

Details of their crimes emerged in court in February when the pair pleaded guilty. Seated in the dock on Thursday, they looked down as their sentences were read out. 

Delivering her decision, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng had strong words for the pair, calling their actions heinous, deplorable and violent. 

She noted that Megan was a young, vulnerable victim who was helplessly reliant on the couple for her daily care. 

For months, the girl pleaded with them for food, clothing and to leave the planter box where she was made to sleep, but her pleas fell on deaf ears and a hardened heart, the judge said.

Her mother instead taunted, berated and mocked her. They recorded Megan's pain and suffering, showing their "absolute depravity". 

"For their own sadistic ends, the accused persons robbed Megan of her basic dignity. Ironically, it is these very chilling recordings which shed light on Megan’s plight during that period," said Justice Hoo. 

After Megan died, the two did not repent but continued to display "utter callousness and cruelty", in the manner that they tried to revive her, said the judge.

"Over months, they prioritised their interests of self-preservation, to cold-heartedly plan for and then deviously execute the disposal of Megan’s body. At the end of her life, they denied Megan of the dignity of a proper laying to rest.

"Nothing of Megan, not even her ashes, remained," said the judge. 

The couple's friend Nouvelle Chua Ruoshi, 35, who is accused of disposing of Megan's body together with them, has her case pending before the court.

THE ABUSE

Foo previously pleaded guilty to three charges for allowing the death of a child, child abuse and impeding investigations by disposing of a corpse, with one charge of child abuse taken into consideration.

Wong pleaded guilty to four charges, namely culpable homicide, impeding investigations by disposing of a corpse, drug trafficking and drug consumption. Another 11 charges, most of which were drug-related, were taken into consideration.

During the hearing where the pair pleaded guilty, disturbing videos of the abuse were played in court, with the public warned about the nature of the contents. 

Megan was born to Foo and Mr Khung Wei Nan, known online as Simonboy, in October 2015. When the couple's relationship broke down, Foo moved to her mother's residence in 2017, bringing Megan along with her. Mr Khung was in jail around this period.   

Foo met Wong in 2018, and they began dating later that year. At the start of 2019, Foo left her mother's residence and moved in with Wong. 

Megan remained with Foo's mother, but would stay over with the couple on some weekends. This was when the abuse began. 

The couple caned Megan, then three years old, for wetting the bed and sofa, causing bruises on her body. 

In September 2019, Megan began living with the couple full-time and the violence against her escalated.  

Apart from caning her, Wong punched and slapped the young girl, and taught Foo how to inflict pain on Megan without leaving traces. Foo used the technique to hurt Megan in addition to caning her. 

The couple also subjected the girl to humiliating acts, such as forcing her to wear her soiled diaper over her head. 

From January 2020, Wong and Foo deprived Megan of food so that she would not relieve herself around the house. They also did not allow her to wear clothes. 

The girl was also made to sleep in a planter box measuring 3m by 1m outside the master bedroom where she was exposed to the afternoon heat. 

Wong inflicted the fatal blow on Megan on Feb 21, 2020. He punched Megan's stomach, which led to her death the next day. 

The trio then took a series of steps to conceal the crime and burnt Megan's body in a barrel on May 8, 2020. 

Megan's death only came to light after Mr Khung lodged a police report on Jul 20, 2020, stating that he last saw Megan and Foo in February 2017 before his incarceration, and that he was concerned about Megan's whereabouts and safety.

SENTENCING

For Foo, the prosecution sought 15 to 20 years' jail, while defence lawyers Cory Wong and Josephus Tan of Invictus Law asked for not more than 11 years.

Both lawyers have been handling the case pro bono for more than four years. Mr Tan told the media after the case that Foo would not appeal the sentence.  

During his arguments on sentencing, Mr Wong told the court how Foo had moved from one abusive relationship to another.

An Institute of Mental Health report stated that Foo had an adjustment disorder with depressed mood at the time of the offence as she was trapped in an abusive relationship with Wong. 

"With that, it is telling that (Foo) was herself a victim in all of this and had also suffered at the hands of (Wong). While this does not absolve (Foo) of her wrongdoing, we humbly urge the court to look at (Foo's) plight in this light," the defence lawyers said. 

The lawyers also submitted two letters by Foo, detailing her domestic abuse and expressing her remorse at how that had "spilt over" towards Megan. 

However, Justice Hoo did not give these letters any mitigating weight. Even if the allegations of domestic abuse were true, these did not absolve Foo of any liability, she said.

She agreed with the prosecution that Foo should not externalise any wrongdoing against her to justify her "deplorable actions". 

"As Megan’s mother, she was Megan’s caregiver, and a person Megan should be able to rely on for protection. Instead, Foo abused that trust, and ruthlessly abused Megan," said Justice Hoo. 

For Wong, the prosecution argued for a jail term of 28 to 30 years and 15 to 17 strokes of the cane, while his defence lawyer Vinit Chhabra urged the court to jail his client for between 20 and 22 years, with 11 strokes of the cane.

The prosecution highlighted how Wong had continually hurt Megan to the point that her jaw became crooked in one instance.

"A complete picture of Megan's suffering, and the horror she faced in the process, is withheld from the court, due to Wong's efforts to destroy evidence," said the prosecution.

"Nonetheless, this court is offered a glimpse: Megan had sustained multiple 'blue-black' marks with bleeding on her back and a big bruise on her left cheek. 

"More shockingly, her extensive weight loss, which can be objectively gleaned from photographs, speaks volumes as to the duration and extent to which the three- to four-year-old had been starved by the very persons she was reliant on."

Justice Hoo noted that in Wong's plea, he sought to downplay his criminality by saying that he was under the influence of drugs and was merely trying to discipline Megan.

These arguments were plainly without merit, the judge said. 

"As the prosecution highlighted during the hearing, Wong’s consumption of drugs would, if anything, be aggravating. It is also no excuse to say that Wong’s actions were aimed at disciplining Megan."

Wrapping up her remarks, Justice Hoo noted that the sentences she passed on the pair were heavy.

"To reiterate, when parents or caregivers abuse their children in ways which torment them physically, mentally and emotionally, the court must, on behalf of society, impose stiff punishment reflecting the disapprobation of such conduct," she said in closing. 

After the sentence had been delivered, the judge allowed Foo to speak to relatives in the gallery, including her mother. 

Foo and her mother spoke in Mandarin, with the younger woman apologising to the elder. The mother asked her daughter to be a better person and told her to take care of herself.

When approached by reporters outside the courtroom, Foo's mother declined to comment, saying that there was nothing more to say with the passing of the sentence.