The mother of a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide by jumping off a building on Friday night said her daughter had been sexually assaulted by a gang of boys, causing severe depression.
The 13-year-old, nicknamed "Pinkie", had been detained in a house in Klong Tan district some time last week and sexually assaulted, said the mother, who also asked for anonymity. The girl was subsequently rescued by police who managed to only arrest two suspects, the mother told the press after picking up her daughter's body at Police General Hospital yesterday morning. As a Muslim, the mother said she would arrange her daughter's funeral and burial within 24 hours. The teenager jumped off the 12th floor of the building, where she lived with her mother in the Ramkhamhaeng area of Bangkok's Suan Luang district, at around midnight on Friday.
Pol Col Lertsak Kiemsab, a superintendent at Hua Mak police station, said yesterday that police will investigate the case. They are also set to study CCTV footage and speak to the mother again. As of now, police officers only know that the girl and her mother had had a heated argument, Pol Col Lertsak said. He added that police will also check to see if Pinkie had a drug habit as reported.
Benjanee Lertsangangarm, 48, the mother's close friend, said she believes the girl's decision to take her own life was triggered by the argument. The mother, according to Ms Benjanee, ran up from her room on sixth floor to the 12th to save her daughter, but in vain. "Nat", one of the girl's friends, told police that Pinkie had sent her a text message bidding farewell, with a photo of her sitting on the balcony of the building's top floor.