PHITSANULOK -- A manhunt is underway for the adult neighbour of a 14-year-old girl strangled to death at her house in Nakhon Thai district.
The student at Nakhon Thai School was strangled with a rope at her house in tambon Bo Pho on Tuesday. Her pants were removed, suggesting a possible sexual assault.
Police suspect the girl, home alone at the time, was killed by her neighbour, 45-year-old Sorn Humpiang, as residents spotted him walking near the victims house the day she died.
Pol Maj Gen Adisak Noiprasert, chief of Phitsanulok police, said on Wednesday that investigators have firm evidence implicating the neighbour. An arrest warrant already has been issued.
A police investigation found that Mr Sorn, who lived near the girl's house, had a record of sexual abuse and used to have several wives. He was believed to have strangled the girl to death after the latter resisted his rape, said the provincial police chief.
The body of the girl was sent to Buddhachinaraj Phitsanulok Hospital to for a rape examination.
More than 200 police and local residents on Wednesday began hunting down the suspect, who was believed to be in hiding in a forest area in Nakhon Thai district or adjacent area of Loei's Dan Sai district.