FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Four men arrested over alleged gang rape and murder of waitress

Four men arrested over alleged gang rape and murder of waitress

Four 23-year-old men were arrested early on Tuesday morning for the alleged gang rape and murder of a 24-year-old waitress in Sara Buri’s Nong Khae district in August.

Police initially thought the woman had committed suicide after she was found hanging from a door in her boyfriend’s house.
But police arrested the four suspects at about 12.30am after a court issued arrest warrants.
The suspects are Santi Thipamon; Nanthaporn Boonmak, a school director’s son; Apipat Apinyakul, a Nong Khae-based police senior sergeant major’s son; and engineering student Supakorn Sopa. Their arrests were based on DNA and autopsy results, with police alleging the suspects attempted to mislead authorities into thinking the victim hanged herself.
During the interrogation on Tuesday at the Nong Khae precinct, which was supervised by deputy police commissioner General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul, the four men – one of whom was the victim’s boyfriend – maintained that they were innocent. 
However, police said they had enough evidence to charge the suspects based on interviews of 25 witnesses and evidence including forensic test results. 
The men have been charged with gang rape, murder and concealing the cause of a death. They were all denied bail on the grounds that they were flight risks.
The victim’s parents, who live in Uthai Thani province, filed a complaint with Srivara at police headquarters in Bangkok on Monday. 
They claimed that there were suspicious elements about the case and the suspects were linked to influential figures.
Sara Buri police chief Pol Maj-General Chairat Thipayachan said yesterday the investigation had not been delayed by police who had to wait for the medical examiner’s autopsy report and forensic results. 
He said the suspects would be sent for the application of their first court-ordered 12-day detention period while police gathered evidence to submit to prosecutors.

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