Thai hospital maid suffers brain bleed after brutal assault by colleague
A Thai maid working at a hospital in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok is seeking justice after a male colleague, who brutally assaulted her, remains at large and continues working as usual, while she suffers from bleeding on the brain.
The younger sister of the victim, Weelyn Issarangkul Na Ayuttaya, took to social media to seek assistance for the 54 year old hospital maid, Namphung. Namphung was physically assaulted by her colleague, Piti Panyalert, at their workplace, Pimolraj Hospital, in Nonthaburi, on January 21.
Weelyn stated that Namphung suffered a severe injury, including a brain bleed. However, the police have not provided any updates on the case, even though it has been over a month since the incident occurred.
Moreover, Pimolraj Hospital failed to cooperate with the police. The hospital refused to submit CCTV footage of the assault to either the police or Namphung, claiming that doing so might damage the hospital’s reputation.
The maid had to resign to seek further medical treatment. Meanwhile, Piti continues working without facing any punishment from either the police or the hospital.
Weelyn added that Piti has not offered her sister any compensation. She turned to netizens for advice on where or to whom she could appeal for help for her sister.
Motive for assault
Netizens tagged various social media influencers, non-profit organisations, and news Facebook pages under the post, hoping someone would take up the case.
This led to the story going viral on social media, prompting the hospital to finally release CCTV footage of the incident.
According to a report by Channel 8, the maid’s condition improved, allowing her to give an interview to the media regarding the conflict that led to the brutal assault.
Namphung explained that she and another maid were about to enter the emergency unit when Piti stopped them, citing an emergency case inside. Namphung claimed that Piti spoke to her disrespectfully, which prompted her to request that he address her and the other maid more politely.
This request angered Piti, leading him to physically attack her. CCTV footage showed Piti pushing Namphung to the ground, causing injuries to her head, eyes, and arm.
Initially, Piti promised to pay Namphung 50,000 baht in compensation, with an initial instalment of 10,000 baht due on February 15. However, he failed to make any payments.
Namphung eventually resigned from the hospital out of fear, while Piti was transferred to another section of the hospital without any disciplinary action.
Hospital statement
The hospital director later addressed the issue, insisting that the CCTV footage had been submitted to the police shortly after the incident. The director stated that the hospital was willing to cooperate with the police and expressed regret over the incident.
The director further claimed that Piti was punished by being transferred to a position in a different part of the hospital where he had minimal interaction with colleagues, supposedly to prevent a similar incident in the future.
Netizens criticised the hospital’s response, arguing that transferring Piti was not a punishment. Many called for his removal from the hospital to ensure the safety of other workers and patients.
As for legal action, the police have yet to provide any updates on the case or clarify the penalties that Piti may face.
According to Section 297 of the Criminal Law: Piti may face imprisonment from six months to 10 years and a fine from 10,000 to 200,000 baht for brutally assaulting another person leading to serious injury.
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