3 arrested in Nong Gina abduction, trafficking suspected

New developments bring a twist in the strange case of Nong Gina, the 2 year old girl abducted by a Burmese man who claimed he left her in a cave as a sacrifice to nature spirits. As reported yesterday, the Mirror Foundation suspected more sinister trafficking reasons for the abduction, and police have now taken three people into custody for questioning in connection to the case.

One woman and two men have been taken into custody by the Mae Taeng Police, working together with the Chiang Mai Provincial Police Bureau and the Provincial Police Region 5, and investigators are setting their sights on an alleged child trafficking ring involved in Nong Gina’s abduction.

Nong Gina went missing from her home on Sunday evening and after exhaustive searching that included people on foot, sniffer dogs, and drones, the little girl was found after information provided by Siew, the 44 year old Burmese man who confessed to abducting the baby, led rescuers to a cave 3 km from the village where he claimed to have left her as a sacrifice to the spirits of the forest and the mountains.

The baby was found in a hut near the cave and rescuers say she was moved there as they had already searched the hut the day before. While Nong Gina suffered from exhaustion and minor cuts and insect bites, she seemed otherwise unharmed though mental health specialists are assisting with the trauma.

The Mirror Foundation’s Missing Persons Information Centre cast suspicions on the Burmese man’s motive for taking Nong Gina saying that the majority of child abductions we’re tied to either a family conflict, or sexual abuse, trafficking, and exploitation, and that there have been no cases known to be committed as an act of sacrifice to spirits.

Now police officers are following similar suspicions saying they believe the suspect did not act alone and that they think that Nong Gina was a specific target of a trafficking network. They suspect that the baby was brought to the cave and then stashed there as the first step in trafficking her further.

Police will now cooperate with social workers to interview Nong Gina’s brother who said that he was there at the time of the abduction according to sources, in hopes of shedding more light on the case.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post