Dad sees foul play in teen's fatal 'fall'

Dad sees foul play in teen's fatal 'fall'

Demands CSD accept 'convincing' evidence

Relatives of Nareekan Yawiratch believe the teenager may have been killed by a truck driver rather than dying during a fall as she fled his cab, as has been claimed. They are shown taking an empty coffin and funeral portrait to the office of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) on Monday to draw attention to the case as they demand a thorough probe. Chanat Katanyu
Relatives of Nareekan Yawiratch believe the teenager may have been killed by a truck driver rather than dying during a fall as she fled his cab, as has been claimed. They are shown taking an empty coffin and funeral portrait to the office of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) on Monday to draw attention to the case as they demand a thorough probe. Chanat Katanyu

The father of a teenage girl who died in suspicious circumstances turned to the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) on Monday for help in investigating what has until now been billed as an accident.

Nareekan Yawiratch, 19, died on July 19 in Bang Pa-in district of Ayutthaya province after apparently accepting a ride home from an entertainment venue in an articulated lorry.

The driver, Surapol Darakham, told police she suddenly jumped out of the vehicle while he was driving and struck her head and was killed during the fall.

Bang Pa-in police recorded her death as an accident but charged the 23-year-old trucker for "detaining her", according to Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, a lawyer representing the family of the deceased.

An autopsy carried out later showed the cause of death to be a traumatic blow to the back of her skull by a blunt object, which appears to contradict Mr Surapol's claim.

Sirinart Robrum, 18, who works at the entertainment venue and invited Nareekan there that night, was questioned but not charged.

The lawyer said the victim's father, Subin Yawiratch, had found "convincing" evidence of foul play. Joined by another relative, the two men presented this to the CSD, Mr Atchariya said.

They filed a new complaint with the CSD accusing Mr Surapol, Ms Sirinart and an 18-year-old male known as "Top" of colluding to cause her death.

Mr Atchariya said he had run a background check on Ms Sirinart and discovered she had a history of luring young women into positions where they could be sexually abused by men, in a similar manner to this case.

The fact that Ms Sirinart invited Nareekan out that night but then left quickly with her friend while arranging for Nareekan to leave with the lorry driver put her in the position of matchmaker, said Mr Atchariya.

Pieces of evidence Mr Subin and the lawyer submitted to the CSD include a voice recording of Nareekan before she died, a record of her GPS location before she died, and messages on her Line app account that she had sent to her friends.

All indicated that her daughter might not have died in an accident.

The GPS location matched one of the locations where the lorry had stopped for more than 7 minutes, Mr Atchariya said.

Police already had all the evidence but the case has not gone anywhere, Mr Subin said, adding he was not even summoned to give an account of what happened.

The father said he learnt his daughter had moved in with Ms Sirinart shortly before she died.

While checking the evidence on Monday, the CSD received a surprise visit from deputy national police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul.

He was briefed about the case before venturing to the location where Nareekan was found dead in Bang Pa-in.

"Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon is paying special attention to this case and has ordered me to look into the details," Pol Gen Srivara said.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (11)