Bangkok school security guard rapes 14 year old student
A security guard at a school in the Sai Mai district of Bangkok has been accused of raping a 14 year old student.
The victim, named A, sought help from the non-profit organisation Saimai Survive to accompany her to Sai Mai Police Station to report the alleged sexual assault by a 52 year old Thai man named Santi Narknoi.
A explained to the police that she has known Santi for three years since she started studying at the school. She respected and trusted him because he used to give her a ride back home when her parents were unavailable to pick her up.
On the incident day, June 27, Santi volunteered to take her home. While they were on the way, Santi stopped at his condominium and informed A that he needed to get his power bank. He urged A to wait for him in his room, as he had to search for it.
However, Santi immediately sexually assaulted her once she was in his room before taking her home. A did not dare reveal the incident to her parents. The following day the suspect was not at the school so she decided to report the issue to her teacher.
The teacher revealed to the media that the school board is worried the sexual assault will make the school look bad if the rape is exposed to the public. The teacher said she wanted to hand over CCTV footage of when the security guard took the student home but the board tried to block her. However, she managed to get the footage to the police.
The school is now in the process of suing the teacher for handing over the CCTV footage.
The superintendent of the Sai Mai Police Station, Rungsan Sornsing, reported that the suspect fled from his accommodation and workplace after the incident. Officers reported that they would gather evidence and check CCTV footage nearby his accommodation to track him down.
The founder of the Saimai Survive, Ekkapop Luengprasert, urged the Ministry of Education and the Office of the Basic Education Commission to conduct a thorough investigation into the case. The school ignored the violent employee who hurt the student but pressured the teacher, who helped the student gain justice.
According to ThaiRath, the security guard, Santi, will face imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to 200,000 baht for sexually assaulting children aged under 15 years old according to Section 279 of the Criminal Law.
Furthermore, he will face three to 15 years in jail and a fine of 6,000 to 30,000 baht for taking children aged under 15 years old from their parents, according to Section 317 of the Criminal Law.
