Top official meets, helps foreign rape victim
MINISTRY of Tourism and Sports Permanent Secretary last night rushed to meet the Brazilian tourist who had been attacked and raped while she thanked the officials for their attentiveness and fully helping her, Thai News Agency said today (April 27).
Pongpanu Svetarundra, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Tourism and Sports, visited the young Brazilian woman tourist and got some information to pass on to a fund to help her.
Mr Pongpanu said that at 1 p.m. yesterday police investigators at Thung Khok police station in Song Phe Nong district,Suphan Buri, took the tourist from Somdejprasangkharach XVII Hospital to Suphan Buri Court.
At 2 p.m. both the suspect, a taxi driver, and the tourist appeared in court and at 10.30 p.m. a police team escorted the tourist to her residence in Bangkok with Mr Pongpanu being there to meet her.
The 23-year-old victim had told the police that she flew in from Kuala Lumpur and landed at Don Mueang Airport on Tuesday after which she walked to the Airport Hotel to hail a taxi to take her to Thonglor as she had fixed to meet her friend there.
However when she got into the yellow-green taxi she was not able to reach her friend by Line and the taxi driver took her to Nakhon Pathom and then Suphan Buri’s Song Phe Nong district before parking and attacking her including beating her badly. She tried to resist but the taxi driver overpowered her and raped her in the field.
According to its regulations, the fund to help tourists in case of rape will be giving her 20,000 baht for mental rehabilitation plus covering other related expenses such as airfare and medical bills.
The tourist is in good spirits and confirmed she will be continuing with her visit here because she is pleased with and has confidence in the Thai justice system as it moved quickly and the operator of the fund also saw the problems and ordered various assistance or her.
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Top: The Brazilian woman tourist talking to Thai officials. Photo: Thai News Agency
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