Education Minister Trinuch Thienthong has ordered authorities to speed up their investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a Prathom five (Grade 5) female student by a boy at a school in Phetchabun province.
The order came in response to reports that the school director had allegedly told the girl, 11, not to talk about the incident to anyone, including her parents. The girl claimed that she was molested by a 12-year-old student in Wichian Buri district on June 21.
The girl's mother said the school director, who is a woman, wanted her daughter to keep quiet for the sake of the school's reputation and suggested that the girl would not get pregnant.
The boy is said to have later confessed to the crime and his parents had offered the girl's family 10,000 baht in compensation.
Ms Trinuch, however, said Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) has launched a probe into the behaviour of the school director and stressed the ministry’s commitment to student safety.
The school director was later transferred to an active post at the provincial primary education service area office for seven days.
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On Monday evening, the girl’s parents filed a complaint with Wichian Buri police, and the girl was then taken to Wichian Buri Hospital to look for signs of sexual assault, which may take up to 15 days to process.
The parents said they learned of the incident on June 23 after they overheard their daughter consulting with her relatives.
The girl’s aunt told reporters that more than 30 villagers gathered at the school to seek answers from the director, who denied telling the girl to stay silent.
The aunt added that the boy had been accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour five times in the past two years before this incident.