Police are expanding the hunt for a Buddhist monk believed to be the leader of a gang of five blamed for the death of an 18-year-old girl forced to drink two huge bowls of "holy water".
Four members of the group were detained on Thursday in Chaiyaphum province and later brought to the Royal Thai Police's headquarters for an identity parade yesterday, which was attended by the parents of Suphak Choedchoho, the dead girl.
The four suspects arrested on a charge of committing a reckless act resulting in death are Kannika Maisang, 37, Phra Boonpan Boonnonte, 66, Boonlai Janla, 36, and Mongkol Yaikaeo, 33, said deputy police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul.
The other suspect, who remains at large, was identified as Phra Opas Srisanga, 43, who Pol Gen Srivara said was the ringleader.
Duanjit Khankhewa, 38, the mother of the dead girl, said her husband, Khan Choedchoho, 48, and her daughter met the group at a deserted temple in Chaiyaphum on Mar 21.
The group approached the father and daughter and recommended that the girl undergo an exorcism claiming she was suffering from "black magic", which the group said could be healed only by drinking two bowls of its holy water, she said.
The girl died after being rushed to a nearby hospital after vomiting heavily while gulping the holy water. Doctors reportedly told the parents that the girl had suffered a cerebral oedema, or a swollen brain.