Policewoman blames mental illness for torturing her maid

A policewoman facing accusations of torturing a female soldier who worked as her maid, turned herself in yesterday, claiming she has mental health issues.

The twisted tale involved a 43 year old policewoman with the Special Branch Bureau claiming to be a senator’s wife and manipulating a 30 year old woman to work in indentured servitude for several years.

The assistant national police chief interrogated the woman in the Muang Police Station in Ratcha Buri yesterday as the details unfolded of a story first brought to light when the victim reached out to an influencer named Gun Jompalang. He shared the story on Facebook and took the woman to file a police complaint. The story was then featured on TV Channel 3 on the “Hone Krasae” show airing Thursday, and the police intervened from there.

The 30 year old woman first met the policewoman several years ago, initially working in her coffee shop. When it closed, the policewoman promised to get her torturing victim into the military but charged her a 500,000 baht fee that had to be slowly repaid. While she did make good on her promise, and the now soldier repaid 260,000 baht of the fee, the policewoman then forced her to quit the military in May under threat of abuse.

The soldier had been working off her debt with her boss withholding all but 3,000 baht of her monthly salary, but the policewoman became increasingly abusive, torturing her victim, injuring her head and nose with a metal rod, burning her skin with a curling iron, and spraying alcohol on her hair before setting it on fire.

The policewoman defended herself against the accusation of torturing the woman by bursting into tears and apologies after offering the police a medical certificate saying she’s been receiving mental illness treatment for two years and was unable to control her rage.

Her direct commanding officer was instructed to take disciplinary action and the Special Branch Bureau will set up an investigative panel, but the policewoman faces a slew of legal charges for torturing the woman as well, including charges under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, illegal detention, using force against another person, and being a government official who benefits from forced labour.

Police searched her house for evidence after taking her into custody and have decided not to deny bail, deeming her low risk for flight, on the condition that she does not intimidate the woman she abused or interfere with the police investigation.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post