by Michael Han
I realise that the real tragedy of Megan Khung’s case is not that her mother withdrew her from the pre-school, managed by Beyond Social Services (BSS), in Sept 2019.
That was five months before she was punched to death by her mother’s lover.
It was not even the fact that calls were made by BSS to Child Protection Service in Sept 2019 to intervene, but the calls did not get the attention it deserved.
Neither was it about the police report, which was lodged by Megan’s grandma in Jan 2020 (one month before her death), and subsequently, Megan’s case was assessed by the police officer as low-risk. With that assessment, all efforts dissipated after two weeks of looking for Megan without results.
That was the end of Jan 2020, and Megan could still be alive today if only she had been promptly taken away from her mother and lover, who were drug addicts.
Alas, I realise the real tragedy was that Megan was forgotten both in life and in death.
From Sept 2019 to Feb 2020, about five months, many opportunities were missed. And that culminated to that fatal blow in Feb 2020, which resulted in the dumping of Megan’s body into a metal barrel and was set alight. Her body was never found.
When I read the grandma’s account this morning, I note that it took another five months to bring Megan’s killers to justice.
Here was how it unfolded and the hot lead was in the form of a hospital bill, which Megan’s grandma received in her mail box in July 2020.
The hospital bill was meant for the injuries sustained by Megan’s mother. She was assaulted by her lover, the same person who landed the fatal punch on Megan in Feb 2020.
This then dawned on Megan’s grandma: “I was shocked and worried about who was taking care of Megan.”
That was where she and Megan’s father, who was estranged from his wife, filed separate police reports on July 20, 2020. This was five months after Megan’s body was disposed of.
Following that, it took just three days to arrest Megan’s mother and her lover. They were then charged for murder.
Imagine that, just three days and they caught the culprit. Although Megan was by then long gone, the point is that even in her passing no one had done anything, or continued any effort, to locate her.
No one searched diligently for her even when there were records with the various authorities and agencies to confirm Megan had not been attending pre-school, she was not with her grandma (which was clearly in breach of a temporary care plan laid down by BSS), and was extensively abused physically, with injuries fully photographed.
The trail just went silently cold for five months after her death.
Megan’s grandma said: “I thought at least Megan is with Li Ping (her mother), and she would protect her. As a mother, I know I would protect my child.”
After she lodged the police report in Jan 2020, she left it in their safe hands. “All I knew was the police was the biggest (organisation), and they could help.”
Sadly, Megan was the 4-yr-old child who slipped through the cracks of the system. Maybe it was a system whose hands were full, or inadequately resourced.
From her grandma’s account, Megan was a sweet and active girl. She would pick her up from school and buy her favourite soup noodles on the way home.
She was cheerful too, and was someone ““who liked to sing and ask her “Ah Ma” for hugs.””
Megan’s grandma lamented that on Sept 10, 2019, Megan was having a fever in school but she had to work. She was working as a cleaner. She then let her daughter (Megan’s mother) pick Megan up from school. And that was the last time she saw her grandchild.
“If I didn’t need to work, I could have taken care of Megan, and maybe she would still be here today,” she said.
Well, to be honest, this was one case that even fell off the radar of the biggest organisation, not to mention an aged cleaner, who had been Megan’s main caregiver before she was taken away by her mother. She shouldn’t be too hard on herself.
Our society was too busy then, or had overlooked, and we walked on by.
The post Five months of warnings, five months of silence: How Megan disappeared and no one kept looking appeared first on The Online Citizen.
