A man fleeing an arrest warrant on a charge of raping an 8-year-old girl and killing her in a field in Pak Thong Chai district on Wednesday night has been apprehended
The suspect had earlier been jailed for four years for child sexual abuse and was released from jail only three months ago, according to Thai media reports.
Anuwat Pholjapor, 24, was arrested behind his house at Mab Chuek village in tambon Thongchai Nua shortly after emerging from a hideout in the nearby forest on Thursday evening, police said.
The suspect was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Court on charges of physical assault causing death, depriving a girl under 15 years of parental care for obscene purposes, and the rape of a girl under 15 years of age who was not his spouse.
The girl was found dead in a paddy field at Mab Chuek village on Wednesday night by her parents, who began a frantic search after returning from work at a construction site and fniding her missing.
The dead child was naked, with bruises around her neck.
Pol Lt Gen Panurat Lakboon, the Provincial Police Region 3 commissioner, interrogated the suspect.
Anuwat allegedly admitted to having raped and killed the 8-year-old girl.
He said he walked past the girl’s house on Wednesday evening and saw she was alone. The girl was carrying a blanket and walking towards her grandmother’s house.
He became aroused, abducted the girl and took her to a pond in a field behind the village, where he raped and later strangled her, according to police.
He then used her own blanket to cover her body, before fleeing into hiding in a nearby forest, where he stayed overnight.
On Thursday evening, he felt hungry but had no money. He thought police might have left the village, so he left the forest and returned to his house, hoping to find something to eat then pack his belongings and leave.
Instead, police were waiting for him. He was arrested and taken to Pak Thong Chai police station.
Pol Maj Gen Pornchai Nonwachai, the provincial police chief, had earlier authorised a 20,000 baht reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.
The girl’s 42-year-old mother said on Friday she would not forgive her daughter’s killer.
It was an inhuman act and he deserved the death penalty, she told reporters.
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