Police yesterday arrested a man suspected of being part of a gang that lured a 13-year-old girl from a shopping mall in Pathum Thani before raping her more than 16 years ago.
Ekkalak Chaona, 34 was arrested in a village in Pathum Thani's Lam Luk Ka district, Crime Suppression Division (CSD) commander Pol Maj Gen Jiraphop Phuridet said.
Mr Ekkalak was one of six suspects being hunted in connection with the rape which took place in 2003.
On March 11, 2003, the teen was allegedly approached in the shopping centre by Mr Ekkalak and five of his friends. Mr Ekkalak offered her a ride home on his motorcycle, which she accepted, and his friends followed them on their bikes to a roadside hut where she was then gang-raped by all six men, police said.
The abuse continued at Mr Ekkalak's home before she was let go the next day.
The girl's mother later went to police who launched an investigation before a court eventually issued arrest warrants in 2011. Police spent years trying to track them down before finally locating Mr Ekkalak.
Mr Ekkalak told police he had just hung out with the girl and his friends and did not rape her, but had only witnessed the others attacking her. The other five suspects remain at large.