SA KAEO: The Sa Kaeo Juvenile and Family Court on Wednesday fined the parents of a group of teenagers accused of killing a 47-year-old intellectually disabled woman 5,000 baht each.
Police had sought prosecution of the parents of the five boys, aged 13 to 16, who are accused of killing Buaphan Tansu on Jan 12.
The adults were charged under the Child Protection Act with supporting or allowing their children to behave improperly.
After leaving the courtroom, some of the parents told reporters the court had fined them 10,000 baht each, but due to their confessions, the fines were halved.
They had been facing possible jail terms of up to three months and/or fines of up to 30,000 baht each.
The case is reportedly the first in which the parents of teenagers who have committed serious crimes have received legal punishment. Court officials declined requests to comment further.
Two of the teen attackers were reported to be the sons of local police officers, and the handling of the case by Aranyaprathet police has drawn widespread public condemnation.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is now investigating how the woman’s 56-year-old husband, Panya Khongsaenkham, was allegedly tortured by Aranyaprathet police to falsely confess that he murdered his wife.
Security camera video showed that Buaphan was assaulted, abducted and killed by the teenagers who later disposed of her body in a nearby pond.
Pol Maj Yutthana Praedam, acting director-general of the DSI, has ordered investigators to establish whether the police had unlawfully pressed criminal charges against Mr Panya before the video was widely seen.
Audio clips that emerged of conversations involving the lead investigator at the Aranyaprathet station and his colleagues indicate that officers knew they had “the wrong guy”.
If their guilt is proven, their conduct will be considered to have been in violation of the Act on the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances.
The Office of the Attorney-General has also set up a panel of nine public prosecutors to oversee the DSI investigation, said Watcharin Phanurat, a deputy spokesman for the OAG, as the case has received considerable public attention.