PHUKET: A beautician was found murdered in a guesthouse room in Thalang district of this southern island resort province on Saturday and a Greek national is suspected of the crime, police said.
Niramol Iadkaew, 44, a native of Phatthalung, was found at about 3pm lying face down on the bed in a room she rented at Bang Thao Guesthouse in tambon Choeng Thale. She was wearing a green blouse and and blue skirt, her hands and feet were tied and her mouth stuffed with a piece of black cloth. A deep wound was found on her forehead with multiple bruises on her head and body.
She was believed to have died four to five days previously, and traces of semen found on her suggested that she might have been raped.
A younger sister of Niramol told police that the woman had stayed in the rented room for several months with her new husband, a Greek national identified as Dmitrios Chairopoulos, 43. The sister said she had been unable to contact Niramon by phone for a week, so she went to the room on Saturday -- and made the gruesome discovery.
Pol Capt Yuthana Yafa, a Choeng Thale police investigator, said the Greek man was suspected to have killed Niramol out of jealousy. The two were said to have quarrelled frequently after Mr Chairopoulos saw Niramol's former husband with her at the beauty salon.
Police began a search for Mr Chairopoulos and learned that he returned to Greece on Feb 11, although his visa is valid until Feb 27.
Police are also seeking Niramol's former husband, another suspect in the murder, for questioning.