A 44-year-old man wanted on charges of raping two girls aged below 13 was arrested in Nonthaburi on Saturday after nearly 13 years on the run.
Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police apprehended Thanarat Lorna along a road in tambon Bangrak Yai of Bang Bua Thong district, said Pol Maj Gen Suwat Saengnum, the CSD commander.
The 44-year-old suspect was wanted on two warrants issued by the Nakhon Si Thammarat court on Feb 25, 2008.
Mr Thanarat had been accused of luring two sisters, then aged 9 and 7, who were children of a neighbour, into playing at his house in Nakhon Si Thammarat in late 2007. He allegedly raped the girls and threatened them not to tell others.
The girls’ parents noticed the children behaving unusually and and asked them what had happened. After learning that the girls had been raped, the parents filed a complaint with police at the Muang district station in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Warrants were then sought to arrest the culprit.
CSD investigators learned that the suspect had fled to live in Nonthaburi, where they finally tracked him down this week.
During the interrogation, Mr Thanarat denied the charges. However, the officers were not convinced by his story and handed him over to police in Nakhon Si Thammarat for further legal action.