Police cronyism questioned in 14-year-old’s gang-rape case
Several officers from Suphan Buri’s Dan Chang Police Station will be temporarily reassigned to allow for disciplinary probes into their alleged slowness in bringing to justice suspects in a gang-rape case involving a teenage victim.
“I have already ordered their transfers,” Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul, deputy National Police chief, said yesterday. The alleged failure by the police officers has been linked to one of the suspects, whose father is a retired police officer.
The provincial police chief will also consider taking action against the station’s superintendent, Pol Colonel Niwat Mataraj, Srivara said after meeting on Tuesday with the family of the 14-year-old victim.
Last November, the teenager was allegedly gang raped at a gaming cafe, and then transported to another area where she was subjected to another molestation attempt.
The girl was hospitalised for three weeks after the incident and suffered both physical and emotional trauma.
Her family told Srivara they had been threatened by people they believed were related to the suspects, adding that local police had been reluctant to go after the suspects because of one’s ties to police.
Local police seemed bent on pursuing the lesser charge of taking a minor away from her parents while ignoring the rape allegations and the family’s complaints of attempts to intimidate them, they said.
Songkran Atchariyasap, a lawyer who chairs a network that professes to target threats to the nation, religion and monarchy, helped arrange the family’s meeting with Srivara. He said “convincing evidence” showed the girl had been drugged at the cafe before being assaulted.
He added that the meeting with Srivara brought immediate progress with two suspects arrested that night.
The two men have been charged with gang rape and taking a minor away from her parents, with the former charge carrying a possible life sentence. The two could not be named yesterday as their ages were not confirmed. Two other suspects are now being sought in the rape.
Police are also seeking arrest warrants for two other suspects, Paweesuda Khansata, 20, and Thanapat Saengkhan, 31, on charges of trafficking the same girl.
Those two suspects allegedly tried to procure the girl for sexual services following the gang rape. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in jail, a fine of up to Bt400,000 or both.
The family of the victim will meet today with Justice Ministry officials to ask for further help.
