SINGAPORE, Nov 5 — The Singapore government has reportedly acknowledged serious lapses by police officers in the handling of four-year-old Megan Khung’s fatal abuse case, a tragedy that shocked the nation when it came to light in 2020.

Singapore's Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming told Parliament on Tuesday that two officers had been “under pressure” and failed to follow established procedures, describing the breach as “serious” and the outcome “tragic”, according to The Straits Times.

Megan was subjected to months of abuse by her mother, Foo Li Ping, and Foo’s then-boyfriend, Brian Wong, between late 2019 and early 2020, before Wong delivered a punch to Megan's stomach that caused her death in February 2020. The child's body was later burned in an attempt to conceal the crime.

Foo was sentenced to 19 years in jail, while Wong received 30 years and 17 strokes of the cane.

Goh said the investigation officer misjudged the first police report, filed in January 2020 by Megan’s grandmother, as a case of mild child discipline and failed to escalate it for review.

She later stopped following up after being reassigned to Covid-19 duties, while her supervisor was also found to have neglected his duties — the officer has since resigned and the supervisor fined.

The case was only uncovered months later when new reports by Megan’s grandmother and biological father led to police discovering her death and arresting the perpetrators.

A later review found multiple failures across agencies, including poor communication between police and social services and mischaracterisation of the child’s injuries.

Goh said the police have since strengthened training and case review procedures, forming dedicated Family Violence Teams and introducing new technology to ensure high-risk child abuse cases are not overlooked again.