S'pore woman, 35, admits to helping dispose of Megan Khung's body & not stopping abuse by mother & boyfriend

A woman, who watched as four-year-old Megan Khung was fatally abused by her mother and her mother's boyfriend, has admitted to helping dispose of the child's body.

Nouvelle Chua Roushi, 35, appeared in court on Oct. 26 to plead guilty to three charges, including for conspiracy to commit child abuse of Megan, disposing of her body, and taking drugs.

Megan's mother, Foo Li Ping, 29, and Wong Shi Xiang, 38, the boyfriend of the girl's mother, were previously sentenced to 19 years' and 30 years' jail, respectively, on Apr. 3.

The couple had subjected young Megan to severe physical and psychological abuse over a period of 13 months.

Chua, who interacted with the couple frequently, did not do anything to stop the abuse, and at times even recorded it on her mobile phone.

The couple would cane and hit the child repeatedly, starve her, and humiliate her by shaving her head and drawing on her face.

Videos of the abuse were shown in court on Oct. 26. Chua was stoic and did not react as the graphic videos played.

Abuse of Megan Khung

The offences were committed from February 2019 onwards in a unit at the Suites@ Guillemard condominium in Paya Lebar rented by the couple.

Chua, who was friends with the couple and regularly visited them, would notice bruises on Megan since November 2019.

The court heard that Chua would stay in the unit frequently with her daughter.

She was also entrusted with the care of Megan, whom she brought out with her own daughter.

On some occasions, Chua noticed Megan was bleeding from the caning.

She also covered Megan in a long-sleeve t-shirt to hide the bruises so Foo and Wong’s abuse would not be exposed, prosecutors said in court.

Recorded videos

Chua would sometimes record videos of the abuse.

These videos were played in court on Oct. 26.

In one video, Foo was seen forcing Megan to eat her own mucus. Chua did not stop the acts and instead video-recorded it.

Megan's head was shaved, and she also had drawings on her eyebrows.

Chua could be heard saying in Mandarin as Foo demanded Megan to eat her mucus: "Let her eat; she says she’s hungry, right?"

In another video recorded by Chua, Megan can be seen unclothed as she asked for a shirt to wear.

At this point, Megan had many bruises on her body, with her ribcage visible.

Another child, who was not identified in court, was also seen in the video standing beside Megan and was seen touching and playing with Megan at some point.

The child appeared to have been of similar age as Megan.

The couple also forced Megan to sleep in a planter box exposed to the afternoon sun until the child got heatstroke.

In a video filmed by Chua, Megan was seen crying inside the planter box.

The same child from the earlier video could be seen asking Megan to lie down before going over to kick her.

She could be heard saying, "I kick Megan," as Chua laughed in the background.

Fatal punch that led to Megan's death

On Feb. 21, 2020, the day prior to her death, Megan was not given any meals for the entire day.

That night, Wong wanted to discipline Megan so he made her stand against the wall in their bedroom.

After scolding Megan, Wong punched her in her stomach.

The impact caused Megan’s back to hit the wall 10cm away with a loud thud.

Foo was scared that Megan would faint, so she told Wong in Mandarin that the girl looked like she “cannot make it". Wong stopped.

After midnight, Chua arrived at the unit to see Megan lying on the bedroom floor, clutching her stomach and saying she was in pain.

When Chua told Foo and Wong about this, the couple dismissed it, saying the child was just trying to get attention.

The three then gathered in the living room to take drugs together.

Hours later, Chua saw Megan in the same position and alerted Foo, who found some vomit with "clear membrane and black contents" beside Megan.

The three tried to wake Megan, but she was unresponsive.

They then tried performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Megan.

Wong took a 30-cm tube and the three took turns to blow air into Megan's mouth.

Foo did not call for an ambulance, afraid the abuse and drugs would be discovered.

Instead, Wong and Chua left to get a defibrillator.

Wong found one but did not take it as he was afraid an alarm would be triggered.

Foo, who was still performing CPR on Megan in the unit, realised she had passed away and told the other two over WhatsApp, “Megan is gone”.

Undeterred, Wong improvised a defibrillator using two wires with metal chopsticks taped to them.

He inserted it into a socket and tried to resuscitate the girl, but failed.

Wong also instructed Foo and Chua to smoke drugs and blow the smoke through a tube into Megan's mouth, but this had no effect.

A forensic pathologist with the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) found in an October 2021 report that Megan had likely died from a serious blood infection due to factors such as ruptured internal organs or abdominal haemorrhaging.

Helped dispose Megan's body

Chua also later helped to dispose of Megan's body after the couple ordered a custom-made barrel to burn Megan's body.

To prevent Megan's corpse from being discovered, Wong wrapped the corpse using a blanket, then layers of cling wrap, and brown tape, before putting it in a Toyogo storage box.

He also kept the unit's air-conditioning switched on to slow the decomposition of Megan’s corpse.

Chua knew these plans and had driven Wong to the residence.

Some time between April and May 2020, Wong asked a signboard manufacturer to construct an “incense burning container”, discussing its design with him.

Foo accompanied Wong to the workshop, where an oil drum barrel had been modified in line with Wong's specifications.

After testing it, Wong asked for further modifications, such as adding openings for ventilation, so oxygen could enter to raise the temperature.

On May 8, 2020, the three collected the barrel and two boxes of charcoal that were procured by Wong's instructions.

At 5:25am that day, they returned to the unit to collect the box containing Megan's corpse.

Wong then drove to his godfather's workshop in Ubi.

At 6:10am, he set up the metal barrel at an open area nearby and burnt Megan's corpse in it.

Foo and Chua brought incense paper over and they also burned that in the barrel for several hours.

After the fire had stopped, Wong swept the ashes inside the metal barrel into a trash bag and put it in his car.

He then drove to East Coast Park alone and scattered Megan's ashes into the sea.

Foo and Wong also made arrangements for the metal barrel to be disposed in Tampines.

Drug charges

The court heard that Chua consumed ICE two days before her arrest.

She had started consuming ICE in January 2020

After her arrest, Chua admitted to all her offences, the prosecution said.

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