Mother’s cry for justice as 13 year old daughter sexually assaulted at Bangkok high school, authorities turn a deaf ear
A mother sought help from a news agency to highlight the rape and sexual assault of her 13 year old daughter by three male students at a high school in the Romklao neighbourhood of Bangkok after the police and school ignored her case.
The 33 year old mother, named Bee, told the media that she only recently learned about the rape because her daughter lives with her ex-husband half of the time. Bee said she divorced her husband 10 years ago, and her daughter lives with him from Monday to Thursday and stays with her from Friday to Sunday.
One weekend, Bee noticed that her daughter was very quiet and looked sad. She started crying after Bee questioned her about her unhappiness. She eventually revealed that she was raped by two students and was sexually assaulted by her ex-boyfriend.
According to the victim, the first incident occurred on November 23 last year during a sports day activity. An older student forced her to go to the bathroom with him and raped her. She screamed for help, but no one heard her.
Then, on November 26 of the same year, a 15 year old student stole her mobile phone and ran away to the fourth floor of the building. She chased after him to get her phone back but ended up being locked in a classroom and raped.
On March 10 of this year, she was then sexually assaulted by her 18 year old boyfriend who invited her to a quiet spot in the school and touched her intimately. This time, she ran away and survived.
After Bee learned about the incidents, she and her daughter filed a complaint at Latkrabang Police Station and then spoke to the school about the matter. Bee said the school did not process anything and still let the three suspects study as if nothing had occurred while her daughter did not dare go to school.
During an interview with Channel 3, the school director claimed that the incident occurred before he took up the position. The school invited the parents and guardians of both parties to discuss the matter at the school and provided the necessary information to the police.
As a punishment, the school did not allow the suspects to study onsite. The two came to school only to pick up homework and documents to avoid the victim meeting with them. The director added that more security cameras were installed in the blind spots to prevent a similar incident from happening in the future.
The punishment against the suspects together with the compensation and mental healthcare for the victim were not mentioned.