Elderly woman sexually assaulted in Maha Sarakham rice field
An elderly woman in Maha Sarakham said she was sexually assaulted while alone in a rice field earlier this week, when a stranger approached her as she dug for crabs near her village.
The incident was shared online as a public safety warning before reports confirmed yesterday, February 19, that it happened in Ban Non Khewa, Ngua Ba subdistrict, Wapi Pathum district.
The 83 year old woman, who lives in the village, said she left home before 7am to dig for field crabs in rice fields at the edge of the community, an activity she said she normally does alone.
She said that the rice fields are next to a road used by residents throughout the day, connecting Ban Non Khewa with nearby villages. At about 8am, she noticed a man arrive on a motorcycle and remain nearby for around 10 minutes before approaching her.
The woman asked him what he wanted, but he did not reply and allegedly began touching her inappropriately. She then begged him to stop, telling him, “Don’t do this to me, I’m old,” but he ignored her and told her he was not doing anything and only wanted to touch her.
She added that he did not cover his face and that she had never seen him before, which made her believe he was not from the village. In her account, he did not rape her, but did perform a sexual act on himself before fleeing.
After he ran off, the woman said she tried to get on her bicycle beside the field but was shaking so much she could not ride it, and instead pushed it back to the village to report the incident to the village head.
Sanguan Mungmee, the village head, visited the site with the woman and warned residents to be cautious, noting nothing like this had happened in the village before.
Thairath reported that the woman has so far refused to file a police complaint, insisting the man “did not do anything” to her and questioning whether an offence had been committed.
Sanguan had explained to her that her rights had been violated and would speak again with her relatives about the next steps.
Police Colonel Sumit Nansathit, superintendent of Wapi Pathum Police Station, has ordered investigators to gather information in the area to identify and locate the suspect.
He added that the victim has not yet filed a complaint, and that the case is compoundable, meaning police must wait for her to lodge a formal report before taking further steps.
Similarly, a Chinese woman sought help from locals on a roadside in Phuket after accusing a Thai app-based taxi driver of attempting to sexually assault her. Witnesses said she was shaken and frightened when she asked for assistance.
Latest Thailand News
Follow The Thaiger on Google News:
