Children falsely accuse village drunk of murdering 6 year old in central Thailand

Yesterday evening, a 6 year old boy drowned in a lake in Lopburi province in central Thailand. The boy’s 7 year old brother and 5 year old friend told police that an alcoholic man who lives nearby strangled the child and held his body under the water until he died.

However, the police’s investigation reveals that the children’s accusation is impossible. The boy’s elder brother later admitted to making up the story.

Police from Mueang Lopburi Police Station received a report that a child had drowned at a lake in Ban Noi Patthana Community in Mueang district at around 5.20pm yesterday. Police rushed to the scene and found the body of 6 year old boy in the lake.

The two children told police that a 49 year old local man named Tae murdered the 6 year old boy. The children said Tae was holding a bottle of beer and stumbling into his house when he noticed the children sitting fishing by the lake.

The children said that Tae walked over to them, strangled the 6 year old boy, and held him underneath the water until he drowned. Tae left the child’s body in the water and walked away, claimed the two children.

The children told police that Tae threatened them not to tell anyone what happened. Tae told the children to lie and say that the boy drowned, the children told police. Tae then hit the dead child’s head before fleeing, the children said.

Police went into Tae’s house, but he wasn’t there. Police found his ID card and showed it to the children, who confirmed that was the man who killed the child. Police searched the area and found Tae drinking alcohol outside a convenience store about two kilometres away from the scene of the incident.

Police detained Tae and took him for questioning at the police station. Tae said he was completely unaware of the child’s death and hadn’t been home yet since finishing work. Tae had previously been imprisoned for a crime related to “drunkenness” and was released around one year ago, said police.

Vendors selling grilled chicken and papaya salad told police that Tae couldn’t have committed the murder, because they had seen Tae drinking outside the convenience store the whole time since he got off work. The vendors said they felt sorry that Tae had been accused of such a horrific act, especially since Tae’s brother drowned in the same lake eight years ago.

The vendors said although Tae is an alcoholic, he is not dangerous and has never hurt anyone. Tae loves children, said the vendors.

Later on, the 7-year-old boy admitted to making up the accusations. The deceased’s elder brother said he made up the story because his mother had told the boys not to play near the water’s edge if she wasn’t there. He said he was scared that his mother would hit him for not looking after her younger brother and for not doing what she said, so he decided to frame the local village drunk, Tae.

The police were utterly shocked because the children’s concocted story was very detailed. A child psychologist interviewed both children and concluded that the elder brother did make up the story out of fear he would be in trouble with his mother.

Police still don’t know exactly what happened to the young boy.

SOURCE: Thai Rath