Calls for tougher punishments for serious crimes committed "intentionally" by juvenile delinquents are gaining momentum as more parliamentarians expressed their support for such a move on Thursday.
The calls come in the wake of the brutal slaying of a middle-aged woman, allegedly at the hands of five teenagers aged 13 to 16, in Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district.
The suspects were caught on a security camera attacking the victim in Aranyaprathet, and they later admitted to killing Buaphan Tansu, 47, and disposing of her body in a lake on Jan 11. They are now being detained in connection with her murder.
Chaichana Detdacho, a Democrat Party MP for Nakhon Si Thammarat and chairman of the House committee on police affairs, said it was time to look into calls for tougher penalties for juvenile delinquents who commit serious crimes, especially after the Siam Paragon shooting rampage by a 14-year-old boy in Bangkok on Oct 3 last year that resulted in three deaths and four people injured.
For the murder case in Aranyaprathet, a copy of the Line chat history obtained from the youths who confessed to killing the woman apparently showed they had a penchant for violence and acted more like a juvenile crime syndicate than regular teenagers, Mr Chaichana said.
"What will happen next if this legal loophole in juvenile criminal law is left unchanged? Will more young people be exploited as drug mules?" he asked. "I think young people themselves will, in a way, face a greater risk of being hurt or killed by criminals their own age."
Senator Wallop Tungkananurak, speaking in his capacity as chairman of the Senate committee on social development, children, youths, women, the elderly, disabled and underprivileged, said additions are needed for juvenile criminal law.
They should specify, for example, a longer detention period for a young delinquent who has committed a serious crime and who would seem likely to repeat the offence if not detained for a long enough period, Sen Wallop said.
The core principle of the Child Protection Act is that every child who has committed a non-violent crime is entitled to the chance of being exempt from prosecution and having a criminal record for the rest of their life, said Nattacha Boonchaiinsawat, a Move Forward Party MP for Bangkok.
"This case [the Aranyaprathet murder], however, seems different. As such, the public prosecutor may exercise his right to petition the judges to rule on the case as if these young suspects were adults," he said.
Such a request from the prosecutor could result in the court handing down a tougher punishment, especially now more evidence has emerged showing these same suspects have been involved in other cases, the MP said.
"Their misconduct apparently wasn't an unintentional mistake but a habit. And that's possible because there was always someone to help get them off the hook time and again," he said.
As for the allegation that a number of police officers at the Aranyaprathet district police station had tortured Buaphan's husband Panya Khongsaengkham, 54, into falsely confessing to have killed his wife, Mr Nattacha said he urged the national police chief to conduct a probe into this alleged misconduct.
The House panel is closely monitoring the police's handling of a related probe into the allegation that its officers engaged in torturing a suspect, said Mr Chaichana, adding that one of the five juveniles is the son of a police official at the Aranyaprathet police station.
Arrested shortly after his wife's body was found on Jan 12, Mr Panya allegedly confessed to the crime -- before footage from a security camera showed it was the five youths who were responsible.
Deputy police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, who was in Aranyaprathet yesterday, said Mr Panya admitted to making the false confession while under duress.
Mr Panya said he was ordered to strip and told he could not leave the station until he had signed a written confession, according to Pol Gen Surachate.
Mr Panya will today be taken to the same room where the abuse reportedly occurred as the parallel probe continues, said Pol Gen Surachate.
The probe will also look into whether the station chief was aware of any officer misconduct, he added.
If he was and had opted to turn a blind eye, he will be punished for dereliction of duty, Pol Gen Surachate added.
"If the police are all this bad, maybe the country no longer needs a police force. I insist I will clear this up and prove this allegation of misconduct," said national police chief Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol.