A former police corporal has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for abusing her maid, while her boyfriend has been sentenced to more than one year for being her accomplice.
The Ratchaburi Provincial Court handed down the ruling on Thursday. The defendants, identified as Kornsasi Buayaem, 46, the former police officer, and Komsit Jangpanich, 52, were found guilty of assault.
The two were accused of committing several felonies, including human trafficking, forced labour, possession of firearms, deprivation of liberty and physical assault.
The victim, identified as Pattama Sirirat, worked at Kornsasi's coffee shop and was urged to join the military.
However, the victim was later forced to resign from the military to work as a full-time maid at Kornsasi's house.
The victim claimed that while working at the house, Kornsasi and her boyfriend used a taser and an electric curler to burn her. The victim said she was also hit with a metal bar, causing damage to her nose and head.
She said she endured the abuse for two years because Kornsasi claimed she was the wife of a senator in Nakhon Pathom while Komsit was the son of a local politician. The victim said she decided to finally file a complaint with the police against the two in August last year. Both turned themselves in. The court ruled that the two defendants committed physical assault against the victim.
Kornsasi was found guilty of extortion and forcing the victim to act against her will, while Komsit was found guilty of possession of a weapon and failure to comply with labour laws concerning minimum wage payment.
As a result, Kornsasi was sentenced to eight years and 66 months in jail, while Komsit was sentenced to one year and 38 months in jail.
The court also ordered Kornsasi to compensate the victim with 365,620 baht. Additionally, the two were also ordered to jointly compensate the victim with another 350,616 baht.
Meanwhile, the victim's lawyer told reporters that she would file an appeal to increase the jail terms.