Thai man attempts suicide after setting girlfriend on fire at supermarket
Police stopped a man from taking his own life after he set his girlfriend on fire outside a supermarket in Nakhon Sawan province on Monday, December 1.
Witnesses rushed to extinguish the flames engulfing the 33 year old woman, Nicha, outside the store on Krai Lat Road in the Pak Nam Pho sub-district at around 5pm. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition with severe burns over much of her body.
The attacker, identified later as her boyfriend, Apichai Chantarak, fled the scene immediately after the attack. According to witnesses, Apichai shouted loudly outside the supermarket, demanding that Nicha, who worked there as a salesperson, come out to speak with him.
The couple reportedly argued before Apichai poured fuel over her and set her alight. According to the report on Channel 8, Nicha remains in a life-threatening condition at Sawan Pracharak Hospital.
At about 8pm the same evening, police received another report from residents in the Wat Khao community that a man was acting violently near the Chao Phraya River. He was shouting that he had killed his girlfriend and attempted to jump into the river to end his life.
Locals approached him and tried to calm him down. He reportedly confessed that he attacked his girlfriend out of jealousy.
Police arrived and stopped him from jumping before realising he was the suspect in the earlier assault. Officers took him into custody and escorted him to Mueang Nakhon Sawan Police Station.
Apichai was charged with attempted murder, which carries half the penalty of murder, which includes the death penalty, life imprisonment, or a prison term of 15 to 20 years.
Similar violent incidents sparked by jealousy have been reported this year. In February, a man set his ex-wife’s new boyfriend on fire at a Bangkok temple, killing him after burns covered more than 80% of his body. In September, another man set fire to his ex-girlfriend’s car two months after their breakup.
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