SONGKHLA: Arrest warrants have been issued for members of a family after a female relative who allegedly stole 300 grammes of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) from them was set on fire in Bang Klam district.
The Songkhla provincial court on Thursday evening approved warrants for Solae Jisawat, 41, his wife Jantira Binsaho, 36, and relatives Yongyut Chumpraman, 26 and Patraporn Petcharat, 29, on charges of the illegal detention and attempted murder of Malai Chumpraman, 50, on Sunday.
According to local police, the suspects believed Ms Malai stole a package containing 300g of crystal methamphetamine they had hidden near her shelter in Ban Khok Mao village of tambon Tha Chang in Bang Klam. A buyer was supposed to pick up the drugs.
A 17-year-old who had already been arrested in the case confessed on Thursday to taking Ms Malai to the four suspects, according to police. They allegedly assaulted and soaked her with petrol, demanding the return of the drugs.
Ms Malai told them she had already dissolved the ya ice in water, police said.
The gang then set her on fire at her shelter at about 2am on Sunday morning. The severely injured Ms Malai fled and hid on the back of a pickup truck about one kilometre away. She was noticed by someone around dawn and taken to Hat Yai Hospital.
Ms Malai earns her living as a scrap collector. Her husband is in jail for drug offences.