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The nine-year-old at Phuket's Damrongtam Centre in Phuket City today

Alleged Phuket Rapist Charged and Free on Bail, Say Police

Monday, October 15, 2012
PHUKET: A man accused of raping a nine-year-old girl on Phuket has been freed on bail while evidence against him is being compiled, a senior police officer said today.

''The man has been charged with rape and was granted bail of 300,000 baht by Phuket Provincial Court,'' Tatchatchai Police Station Superintendent Colonel Rassada Kungwong said.

''Meanwhile, samples taken from the girl in tests at Thalang Hospital have been forwarded to Bangkok to make sure the results can be verified.''

The man, a 57-year-old shopkeeper, has to report to Phuket Provincial Court again on Friday. Police did not oppose bail at the original hearing, Colonel Rassada said.

The mother of the nine-year-old girl took her daughter and the case to the Phuket Damrongtam complaints centre at Provincial Hall in Phuket City today.

The pair cannot be identified for legal reasons.

The woman said a neighbor in a small village community in northern Phuket told her she'd seen suspicious signs that the shopkeeper and her daughter had had sex.

The mother said she took the child immediately to Tachatchai Police Station on October 7 to report the matter, then took her daughter to Thalang Hospital for tests.

She said the girl agreed that she had been raped, but the man had threatened her and told her not to tell anyone.

The shopkeeper had since offered money to the mother ''not to make a big deal of it,'' she said. ''I don't want him to get away with it,'' she added.

''I am afraid that he may rape my daughter again or someone else.''

Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak was at the Damrongtam Centre with media today to hear the mother's account.

The nine-year-old was in the room as the account was retold.

Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

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He has admitted by offering the family money. IS THE MOTHER THE ONLY ONE WHO IS AFRAID he will do it again??? The police know nothing about sex crimes do they? This is probably the first time he has been caught. Please keep us updated.

This is horrific for the daughter and really shows how ignorant the police are. Good for the mother to pursue this, I am sure it is a lot of courage for both of them.

Posted by VFaye on October 15, 2012 18:20

Editor Comment:

The man is, of course, innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. He hasn't admitted anything. It would be unjust to accept one side of any unproven case. In taking the child to the complaints office to go through the circumstances again, the mother seems to be overlooking the potential trauma to the child. The police have nothing to do with the complaints office. Other readers have also jumped to conclusions, with one even suggesting castration. Fortunately for the innocent and the guilty, readers have no say in determining just outcomes.

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By trying to offer money to the mother to cover his crime he is already guilty. I guess you don't have children editor.

Posted by Jean_paul Patrick on October 15, 2012 22:36

Editor Comment:

I guess you don't have a justice system. The man is innocent until proven guilty. The mother's claims have to be established as fact in court.

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(moderated)

Posted by kobee on October 16, 2012 07:51

Editor Comment:

There was no need for the girl to be present at the complaints office, kobee. If the accusations are true, the young girl and the effect on her should be of prime concern. If you don't understand that, perhaps your life experience is limited.

Other readers have also made presumptions about this case. Guesswork is unsuitable in comments, especially where a charge as serious as rape has been laid. We intend to let justice take its course in establishing whether this man is guilty or innocent and suggest that readers do the same.

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(moderated) You are whacking at the wrong party and I am quite surprised to find you so out to sea. I believe if you had more personal experience with victims and the devastation caused by this crime you would better understand. I might be incorrect and that was presumptuous on my part but I really am struggling to see what your point is.

Posted by Martin on October 17, 2012 21:50

Editor Comment:

The main point is, Martin, that ''pontifications'' about a case like this one are unwise. It was probably a mistake from the beginning to allow comments. My only assumption is that readers will make too many of them, as you did from the moment that you took VFaye to be male. Now you assume I have little or no personal experience. Another reader suggests having two daughters makes him/her better qualified. We don't plan on ''whacking'' at any party - it may surprise you to learn that we never do. We also don't intend to allow passions to subsume principles. We took the trouble to contact the police from the beginning, which at least gave us a reasonably balanced account. My point is that none of us know all the facts in this disturbing case, which is why it's best left as a matter for the court. My apologies for wasting your time, and the time of other readers.

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By printing 1/3 of my post you misrepresent my comment. Apparently you don't want to print the opinions of whiners, cringers, doomsayers or the suggestions of Doctors of Psychiatry. I am sorry I wasted your time and won't bother you again.

Posted by Martin on October 18, 2012 23:15

Editor Comment:

The first section of your post deals with this case as though a crime has been committed. A Doctor of Psychiatry may be able to make that assumption. A journalist cannot. Bear in mind that the mother went to the Damrungtam office to complain about police inaction. Yet the police have arrested and charged the man. The mother either did not know about the man's arrest, or neglected to pass on that piece of information. That's an unusual set of circumstances. It's safe to make only one assumption: that the storekeeper denies the charge.

For once, possibly for the first time, your response on an issue adds confusion rather than clarity.

Your write: ''You seem quite willing to judge the Mother on her decision to take the girl to confront her accuser . . . ''

We are actually talking about the mother taking the child to a provincial complaints office to brief the media. The storekeeper was not present. The police were not present. And you write ''her accuser''. Just what has the child been accused of?

I agree that the child's welfare is paramount. You write: ''The specifics of the child's emotional state can't be judged by you or anyone else without the proper training and time with her. It is a possibility that the outcome could be positive and is even likely. I question what just outcome for her you see here? What justice can there ever be for a nine year old who has faced this? What is important and you don't see fit to publish is that this girl is put in touch with someone who specializes in this kind of trauma as soon as possible. Since there is no mention of it in your article or pontifications I am forced to assume it has not been done.''

I wish we knew about that too, Martin. My advice hasn't been sought. (I am a journalist, not an oracle). We agree that the girl's welfare is of paramount importance in this real-life case. But please let me repeat . . . It's safe to make only one assumption: that the storekeeper denies the charge.

Perhaps I should remind you of one sentence you also wrote, having made some comments that of course I agree with: Publish or don't publish, its up to you.

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Editor & Martin,

I also had my post 'moderated'. But not 1/3...100% And I did not use any foul language or make any assumptions/accusations.

I was also referred to in a response to another's post as claiming to be an expert because I have 2 young daughters. I never said that...I only said that I would want my daughters to fight against this type of 'crime' and to make sure they knew it was not their fault.

I understand Mr. Editor that you have to run a business and you must fully grasp the "innocent until proven guilty" theory. But my comments were based on responses made by you and others...they had nothing to do with accusing guilt or presuming a crime was committed by this specific man. (although the doctors said she was penetrated, so somebody did commit the crime)

Perhaps you, as well, should have taken your own advice and not allowed comments on this story. But you didn't, and this is why we are commenting.

Posted by kobee on October 23, 2012 03:07

Editor Comment:

Phuketwan took the view that regular journalistic balance was required before posting our article, so we called the police officer involved. Most other news outlets did not, and ended up with articles, at least at first, providing just the mother's one-sided perspective. The mother is the only source for virtually all the incriminating information available so far. The man clearly denies what she says is true. We don't know what the result was of the hospital test, or why it was - unusually - forwarded to Bangkok. We don't know why the mother complained to Phuket officials that police had failed to act, yet failed to mention that she knew the man had already been arrested and charged. Any assumption that any offence occurred is therefore wrong in principle and in fact, and not a suitable topic for supposition, guesswork or debate. All this can be gleaned from the article, but reading it without allowing passion to usurp principle seems to be a difficult thing, even for intelligent readers. Opinions must have validity, kobee. Just having one is not enough.

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Thank you Mr. Editor for posting my comment. Your response was well written and well received. After re-reading the original article, I realize that my comment about the verification of her being penetrated came from the other online Phuket news source and not your article. We will soon see what the tests show. I hope for humanity's sake that this is all a lie...a horrible lie, but better than if it was true.
You're very right that passion can sway judgement in cases like this, so your stoic stance of objectivity is probably the correct way to go. Just understand that people and parents like me (and perhaps yourself) tend to take these stories very close to the heart. In fact, I imagine most do.

Posted by kobee on October 24, 2012 03:08


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