Murder of Cheng Geok Ha
1977 case of missing girl found raped and murdered in Singapore / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On the morning of 25 November 1977, ten-year-old schoolgirl Cheng Geok Ha (Chinese: 钟玉霞; pinyin: Zhōng Yùxiá; c. 1967 – 25 November 1977) was last seen playing with her two friends at the carpark below her flat at Chai Chee, Singapore. According to the pair who were last with Cheng, the girl hung out with them at the playground for a while before she left, and she never came back home on that night. The Cheng family reported Cheng missing, and there was a public appeal which seeks information to trace her whereabouts.
Cheng Geok Ha | |
---|---|
Born | Cheng Geok Ha 1967 (1967) Singapore |
Died | 25 November 1977 (aged 10) Chai Chee, Singapore |
Cause of death | Murdered by strangulation |
Resting place | A cemetery in Singapore |
Nationality | Singaporean (Chinese) |
Other names | Mei Mei |
Education | Primary Three at Opera Estate School (incomplete due to her death) |
Occupation | Student |
Known for | Murder victim |
Nearly two weeks later, on 7 December 1977, Cheng's dead body was found abandoned under a manhole, with her decomposing body stuffed inside a gunny sack. The cause of Cheng's death was revealed to be strangulation, and the girl was found to be sexually assaulted prior to her death. The police soon arrested the Cheng family's neighbour Quek Kee Siong (郭祺祥 Guō Qíxiáng), a 41-year-old labourer who confessed to the crime but claimed he killed Cheng accidentally. Eventually, the courts ruled that Quek had intentionally killed Cheng based on the severe nature of the girl's injuries and thus sentenced Quek to death for murder.