Father arrested in Ubon Ratchathani over alleged rape of daughter, 14, after she phoned mother for help
Police in north-eastern Thailand have arrested a 48-year-old man accused of raping his 14-year-old daughter over a period of about three years, after the girl secretly phoned her mother to ask for help.
Officers from Kut Khaopun police station in Ubon Ratchathani province detained the man at his home on Tuesday in an operation coordinated with the Pavena Hongsakul Foundation for Children and Women, a charity that helps abuse victims.
He tested positive for drugs, police said, and has been charged with rape of a child under 13 by a parent, along with drug use. Police were preparing to ask the provincial court to remand him in custody.
The girl’s mother, who lives in Ayutthaya, about 600km away, went to the foundation on Monday after her daughter called her in tears, the foundation said. The girl said the abuse began with inappropriate touching when she was in primary school and escalated to rape when she was 12, and that her father had threatened to stop paying for her schooling if she told anyone. The most recent alleged assault was on 19 September.
The mother told the foundation she had separated from the girl’s father when their daughter was small, and that he had left the child in the care of his own mother in Ubon Ratchathani. He later served eight years in prison for a drugs offence and took the girl to live with him after his release in 2022, cutting off contact with her mother, she said.
She said she had been afraid to travel to Ubon Ratchathani alone and asked the foundation to intervene.
Foundation chairwoman Pavena Hongsakul contacted the district police chief, Pol Col Rakpong Buathian, and arranged transport for the mother to file a complaint. The head of the provincial children and family shelter, Nusart Sasen, accompanied officers to collect the girl from her school.
The girl is now in the shelter’s care and is to undergo a medical examination and be interviewed by a team of child-protection specialists, the foundation said.
Once the legal process is complete, the foundation plans to help the mother and daughter return to Ayutthaya, arrange a school transfer and seek compensation for the girl from the Justice Ministry’s Rights and Liberties Protection Department.
If you or a child you know is at risk of abuse in Thailand, the Pavena Foundation hotline is 1134 and the Social Development Ministry’s hotline is 1300.
source: Thairath
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