Nouvelle Chua Ruoshi was friends with Megan’s mother and her boyfriend, who subjected the child to repeated abuse from 2019 to 2020.
Nouvelle Chua arrives at the Supreme Court for her sentencing hearing on Nov 13, 2026 over the death of four-year-old Megan Khung. (Photos: CNA/Wallace Woon, Instagram/@simonboyyyyyyy)
Nouvelle Chua arrives at the Supreme Court for her sentencing hearing on Nov 13, 2026 over the death of four-year-old Megan Khung. (Photos: CNA/Wallace Woon, Instagram/@simonboyyyyyyy)
Warning: This report contains distressing descriptions of child abuse.
SINGAPORE: The woman who conspired to abuse four-year-old Megan Khung, then later helped dispose of the child's corpse, was sentenced to 13 years' jail on Friday (Nov 13).
Passing the sentence on Nouvelle Chua Ruoshi at the High Court, Justice S Mohan said the case arose from "a series of heinous and inhumane acts" committed against Megan Khung.
The High Court judge said that it was "imperative that court sent the strongest signal" to the public that any person involved in cases where children suffer abuse will be met with the full force of the law.
Justice Mohan said the punishment meted out should express "full abhorrence of society" and the court towards the unconscionable harms inflicted on children who are some of society's most vulnerable members.
Chua, a 36-year-old Singaporean, was friends with Megan's mother, Foo Li Ping, 31, and Foo's boyfriend, Wong Shi Xiang, 40.
Foo and Wong were both sentenced in April 2025 to jail terms for their roles in the case, which has drawn national attention over the cruelty inflicted on the toddler and cast a spotlight on safety nets for detecting child abuse earlier.
Foo was handed 19 years' jail, while Wong received 30 years' jail and 17 strokes of the cane.
As she was sentenced, Chua, dressed all in black, appeared expressionless initially but started tearing as the judge pronounced her jail term.
At a previous hearing, prosecutors sought 13-and-a-half years' jail for Chua, while the defence argued for six years and four months' imprisonment, however both sides have since tendered further submissions on the jail terms, which they did not elaborate on in court.
Chua's defence lawyers also submitted her personal letter to the court, but the contents were also not revealed in court.
This was after Chua pleaded guilty to three charges: an amalgamated count of conspiring to commit child abuse, one count of disposing of a corpse and one count of drug consumption.
She also admitted to three other counts of conspiring to ill-treat Megan, which were taken into consideration during sentencing.
Following Foo and Wong’s sentencing, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said it would carry out a further review of Megan’s case. A review panel in October 2025 identified serious shortcomings across the agencies responsible for Megan's welfare.
In September this year, MSF launched a new unit to flag child abuse concerns earlier.
Justice Mohan had strong words for Chua as he sentenced her, describing her actions as "depraved" several times and rejecting the notion that she was a passive bystander.
He found that Chua's acts of recording Megan's abuse, her failure to intervene and her continued presence during the acts of abuse transformed her from a mere bystander to an enabler and a participant in "wonton acts of cruelty" that Megan was forced to endure.
The judge noted that it was "not unimaginable" or "beyond the realm of possibility" that Chua had derived some depraved private amusement or enjoyment from recording Megan's abuse.
EARLIER PLEAD GUILTY HEARING
Megan was born to Foo and her then-husband Khung Wei Nan, known online as Simonboy, on Oct 4, 2015.
Foo's marriage to Khung broke down, and she began dating Wong in 2018. She moved in with Wong in January 2019. Initially, Megan remained with Foo's mother and only stayed with the couple on some weekends, but moved itno the flat with the couple in September 2019.
During Chua's plead guilty hearing on Oct 26, the court heard that Chua began visiting Foo and Wong with her own daughter from around July 2019.
She was entrusted with Megan's care and had taken both Megan and her daughter out of the flat.
She witnessed the couple abusing Megan and filmed several of the incidents, including those in which Megan was naked, and when she was covered in wounds.
She also saw the child's injuries, but dressed her in clothes that would cover her bruises and cane marks to conceal the abuse.
In late 2019, Wong drew on Megan's face to humiliate her because the child had used Foo's makeup without permission.
Wong and Chua then humiliated Megan by parading her in public, with Chua recording the incident on her mobile phone so that she could remind Megan of her punishment if she misbehaved in the future.
In January 2020, Foo became upset after Megan's mucus splashed on her while the child was crying. Chua told Foo to give Megan the mucus since the child was hungry.
She also failed to stop the couple from making Megan sleep in a planter box on the balcony. Instead, she recorded a video of the child inside the planter box.
Even as she saw Megan growing physically weaker and the abuse escalating, she did nothing to protect the child.
THE FATAL INCIDENT
On Feb 21, 2020, Wong punched Megan in the stomach, causing her back to hit a wall.
Sometime after midnight on Feb 22, 2020, Chua arrived at the flat and saw Megan lying on her side on the bedroom floor, holding her stomach in pain.
Chua told the couple that Megan had complained of stomach pain, but they dismissed this as an attempt by the child to get attention.
Chua then ignored Megan and instead took drugs with the couple.
Several hours later, Chua saw Megan lying in the same position. She alerted Foo and Wong, and the three found that the child was unresponsive.
After their attempts to revive her failed, the trio left the flat on Feb 23, 2020, and stayed at hotels and serviced apartments until June 2020.
During this period, Foo and Wong discussed how to get rid of Megan's body, with Chua aware of their plans.
Chua drove Wong back to the flat on one occasion when he wrapped Megan's corpse to prevent it from being discovered.
At Wong's instruction, Chua bought vinegar and other items she knew were meant to mask the smell of decomposition and prevent their actions from being discovered.
On May 8, 2020, the trio returned to the flat. Wong had earlier wrapped Megan's corpse and placed it in a box, which Foo helped him load into his car.
Megan's corpse, still in the box, was burnt in a metal barrel at a workshop. Chua joined Foo and Wong in burning incense paper in the barrel before leaving while the incineration was still ongoing.
Wong later swept the ashes inside the barrel into a trash bag and drove to East Coast Park on his own, scattering Megan's ashes into the sea.
Neither the metal barrel nor Megan's remains were ever recovered.
Megan's father, Khung, lodged a police report over Megan's whereabouts on Jul 20, 2020.
The trio were arrested on Jul 24, 2020, and subsequently charged.
For intentionally disposing of a corpse, Chua could have been jailed for up to seven years.
For conspiring to ill-treat a child, Chua could have been jailed for up to eight years, fined up to S$8,000 (US$6,200) or both.
For drug consumption, she could have been jailed for between one year and 10 years and fined up to S$20,000.