Man accused of selling wife in exchange for drugs

Police arrested a Thai man after his wife filed a complaint alleging that he sold her to settle a debt. The woman claimed the husband forced her to have sex with a drug dealer in exchange for drugs. The husband denied the accusation claiming his wife requested to have group sex.

A 31 year old woman filed a complaint against her abusive husband, identified as 27 year old Em, at Nang Rong Police Station in the Isaan province of Buriram on Monday, May 15.

The woman reported that Em took her to a resort in the province where he forced her to have sex with a stranger, believed to be his debtor and drug dealer. He also recorded a video of the encounter to blackmail and manipulate her into complying with his demands.

The woman added that Em always abused her throughout their 10-year relationship. She decided to escape from the family house with her two children and stayed with a relative before reporting the issue to the police.

Officers investigated the resort that the woman mentioned and questioned staff members about the incident. One employee disclosed that she met the woman and her husband twice at the resort but was unaware of any sexual assault.

Following a police investigation, Em was arrested yesterday in the Loei province while he was working on a cassava plantation with his mother. Em denied the accusation and claimed that his wife desired to engage in group sex and urged him to find five men for her, but he managed to find only one. He also stated that the woman agreed to the video recording.

The police remained unconvinced and took Em from Loei to Buriram for further questioning. The officers issued two charges against Em including…

• Section 276 of the Criminal Law: having sexual intercourse with a woman, against her will, by threatening or doing any act of violence. The penalty will be imprisonment for four to 20 years and a fine from 80,000 to 400,000 baht. If the preparator records a video, picture, or voice from the sexual assault, the penalty will be harder than the penalty of Section 276.
• Section 284 of the Criminal Law: taking away another person for the indecent act by using a violent act, using deceitful means, or threatening. The penalty will be imprisonment of one to 10 years and a fine of 2,000 to 20,000 baht.

Police officers reported that they would conduct a further investigation to arrest the drug dealer, who was involved in the sexual assault.