Two charged with murder over Surat Thani Detention Centre murder
The case of a 17-year-old juvenile found strangled to death in a Surat Thani juvenile detention centre today (Tuesday) stemmed from a pre-existing dispute between two rivals, according to Sahakan Phetnarin, director general of the Juvenile Observation and Protection Department.
The two teenage rivals, whose names have been withheld due to their age, have already been charged with the juvenile’s murder, Sahakan said. The centre is now asking the courts to send the two teens, categorised as youths “with complicated issues”, to an adult prison because their alleged behaviour posed a threat to the safety of other youths, he said.
Officials were also facing an inquiry to see if any negligence by the centre’s officers had resulted in this death, he said, and if so, they would be punished accordingly.
The Department would also provide whatever help it could to the deceased juvenile’s family. Muang Surat Thani police were summoned at 1.30am yesterday after the unnamed 17-year-old was found dead in his bed with several parts of his body showing signs of injury and a towel nearby, possibly used to strangle him.
A doctor estimated he’d been dead for three or four hours before being found. Officials said the boy had “established influence” in an older building at the facility, so when seven juveniles who had pre-existing disputes with him arrived there on Monday morning, he’d been moved to a newer building to prevent a clash.
Two out of the seven newcomers then allegedly committed the murder. Sahakan said officials at the centre divided juveniles into zones “high risk”, “moderate risk” and “low risk” zones in order to prevent clashes and maintain better supervision. It would soon implement psychological therapeutic programs to attend to each youth’s issues, he said, adding that juvenile detention centres in the South were more prone to violence than other regions so extra measures would be implement to tackle youths’ conflicts with each another.
STORY: The Nation
