Such a tragedy cannot ever happen again, says social service agency

Agency that runs pre-school says it has since implemented three safeguards

- Syarafana Shafeeq

Megan Khung’s death is a tragedy, and such an incident cannot ever happen again, said Beyond Social Services (BSS) on Oct 23 after a report was released to review the actions of agencies involved in the girl’s case.

BSS is the social service agency that runs the Healthy Start Child Development Centre, the preschool that Megan had attended.

Four-year-old Megan died in 2020 after she was physically and emotionally abused for more than a year by her mother and the woman’s boyfriend.

Teachers and community workers from BSS had made attempts to help the girl before her death.

Megan’s teacher discovered bruises on Megan on March 19, 2019, and reported this internally to the BSS community workers on the same day. The staff then checked with Megan’s mother and grandmother, and put in place a temporary care plan by the end of the same day. Megan was required to stay with her grandmother as part of this plan.

Megan’s teacher also took photographs of her injuries. She was told to delete them as they were taken without a parent’s consent, but she did not do so, feeling that it was important to have a record of the serious nature of the injuries, the panel said.

These pictures were later collected as evidence during police investigations.