Murder of Huang Na

Huang Na was an eight-year-old Chinese national who lived with her mother at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre in Singapore. Her mother had moved to Singapore in May 2003 as a peidu mama, accompanying her daughter, who was enrolled at Jin Tai Primary School. People at the wholesale centre and her school described Huang Na as an intelligent, independent and sociable child.

On 10 October 2004, Huang Na was last seen at a food court near the wholesale centre and did not return. Her mother, the police, and community volunteers mounted a three-week nationwide search. A volunteer group, Crime Library Singapore, distributed more than 70,000 leaflets; the taxi company ComfortDelGro asked its drivers to help; and members of the public offered monetary rewards. The search extended across the Causeway into Malaysian cities including Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur.

On 19 and 20 October 2004, police questioned Took Leng How, a Malaysian vegetable packer at the wholesale centre who had befriended Huang Na. He first told officers that three men had abducted her, then fled to Malaysia during the investigation. Took surrendered on 30 October, stating that he had strangled the girl during a game of hide-and-seek in a storeroom. The following day, her body was found at Telok Blangah Hill Park, and Took was charged with murder. Thousands of Singaporeans later attended her wake and funeral.

Took's 14-day trial opened on 11 July 2005 before Justice Lai Kew Chai in the High Court. The prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Lawrence Ang, presented 76 witnesses, a video re-enactment, and forensic evidence; an autopsy identified asphyxia as the principal cause of death, though the finding was described as inconclusive. A prosecution allegation of sexual assault could not be conclusively established because of the body's decomposition. The defence, led by lawyer Subhas Anandan, argued diminished responsibility and called a psychiatrist who testified that Took was schizophrenic; a prosecution psychiatrist disagreed. On 27 August 2005, Justice Lai convicted Took of murder and imposed a death sentence.

The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction in January 2006 by a 2-1 majority, with one judge dissenting on the ground that the cause of death was inconclusive. A clemency petition bearing 35,000 signatures was submitted to President S. R. Nathan, who rejected it in October 2006. Took Leng How was hanged at Changi Prison on 3 November 2006, aged 24. The case was later documented in Singapore publications, including the Straits Times book Guilty As Charged: 25 Crimes That Have Shaken Singapore Since 1965.