Police have obtained surveillance camera footage that shed light to dismembered body parts of a woman in Bangkok canals, as the recording shows the woman jumping off the Rama 8 Bridge into the Chao Phraya River.
The discovery of a headless upper torso and other dismembered body parts in Bangkok Noi and Bangkok Yai canals on Wednesday sparked a murder investigation before CCTV footage was obtained.
Police later confirmed the body parts belonged to Maneerat Krajokphan, an employee of a Japanese restaurant in Ramkhamhaeng area.
On Thursday, an investigation team obtained footage from a security camera on the Rama 8 Bridge in Bangkok. The footage shows a woman jumping off the bridge into the Chao Phraya River around noon of Feb 7. There were no people on the bridge at the time.
Police speculated that propellers of a passing boat might have cut off her body. A family problem was a possible cause.
The investigation team, led by Pol Lt Gen Samran Nuanma, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, called the woman’s relatives for questioning on Thursday to determine the cause of her death.
Adisorn Khumsok, 26, Maneerat’s husband, said he believed the woman in the footage was his wife. He last saw her around 7.30am on Feb 7 before he went to work. He did not know what clothes she was wearing that day, but he saw the footage and was confident the woman was his wife.
His wife often told him that she would hurt herself, but he never thought she would do it, said Mr Adisorn.
He admitted that they had a financial problem. His wife also had a health problem.
A close friend of Maneerat told police that she did not believe her friend would jump to her death. She was the last person Maneerat spoke to, according to police.
Maneerat’s parents also met police, but her mother fainted before testifying. After she regained consciousness, she and her husband gave their statements to Pol Lt Gen Samran.
Following the questioning, Pol Lt Gen Samran and senior police announced that the woman on the CCTV footage was Maneerat.
CCTV footages showed the woman left home at Soi 33 of Hathairat road at 10.43am on Feb 7 and visited a friend’s house at Soi 25. She later took a taxi to an area beneath the Rama 8 Bridge. She bought drinking water at Ban Poon community before walking to the bridge. She later jumped off the bridge at 12.13pm on Feb 7.
The investigation team earlier called the taxi driver, who provided useful details.
Pol Lt Gen Samran said wounds on the body parts would be thoroughly examined. It was possible that her body may be cut off by boat propellers, he added.
He said DNA samples of the body parts and those of the woman’s relatives would be tested.
Police would wait for an autopsy report to determine whether drowning was the cause of death, he said.
The body parts would be handed over to her relatives for a religious ceremony.
Pol Lt Gen Samran earlier said the police investigators believed it was homicide as the dismembered parts were found scattered in different canals.