A THAI MAN wanted for raping his own 15-year-old daughter, and another adult male relative wanted for the same offence, were both arrested in Pathum Thani province on Friday.
The two accused, whose names are being withheld to protect the rape victim’s identity, have denied the allegations.
The girl was reportedly raped by her own father and three other male relatives on several occasions over the past year and is now two months’ pregnant.
The two men were arrested at two different locations in Lat Lum Kaew district following a police complaint filed by the victim’s mother on April 11.
The Pathum Thani Court on Thursday approved an arrest warrant for four suspects, including the girl’s father, a senior relative of grandfather-equivalent rank (who is also a former public figure) and her two paternal uncles.
The two uncles escaped an attempt by police to arrest them on Friday.
The four men are alleged to have raped the girl on various separate occasions for nearly a year without the knowledge of her mother, who worked from early morning until evening every day.
The victim’s mother noticed the girl becoming increasingly quiet and depressed last month, while also developing signs of being pregnant. After repeated questioning, the girl finally told her mother about the multiple rape attacks.
Pathum Thani’s Social Development and Human Security Office head Rungthiwa Suddaen on Friday visited the girl at the Pathum Thani Children and Family Home.
The girl told officials that an uncle had raped her once in June last year when she was taking care of him over a health issue and then her own father, – who took methamphetamines and often asked her to give him a massage, raped her on five separate occasions and threatened her not to tell anyone.
The grandfather-equivalent relative invited the girl to help with his business and raped her on 20 occasions, the girl said, while another uncle raped her three times at her home when she was alone.
According to the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation, which provides aid and legal consultations to victims of sex assault or harassment cases, half of all rapes in Thailand as reported in 158 national news stories in 2011 were committed by family members (father, step-father, grandfather or brothers) or acquaintances (neighbour, friend, teacher or monk).
Only 33 per cent of such cases were committed by strangers.
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