Schoolgirl’s mum ‘relieved’ as Army kicks out officer accused of rape

Schoolgirl’s mum ‘relieved’ as Army kicks out officer accused of rape

By The Nation

The mother of a 14-year-old girl who was molested and raped on multiple occasions since March has expressed relief that the Army lieutenant in Songkhla accused of the crime has been discharged without pension for serious disciplinary violations and gross misconduct.

“I’m glad this fight for justice has yielded results,” the mother said on Thursday, her name legally withheld to protect the victim.

“It’s like finding the light at the end of tunnel and I feel relieved to a certain degree to see that the wrongdoer has been punished.”

Defence Ministry permanent secretary General Nat Intharacharoen signed an order on Wednesday dismissing Lieutenant Jarae Rojanasawinya from his duties as a logistics officer with the Third Infantry Battalion, Fifth Infantry Regiment.

The order came after the victim and her parents – a sergeant major first-class and a housewife – met Na Thawee police last month and formally accused the officer of rape.

The Mathayom 3 schoolgirl’s mother claimed the lieutenant bound, gagged and raped the girl 10 times, luring her back each time and securing her silence by threatening to publicly release videos of their sexual encounters.

The girl was traumatised and depressed and twice attempted suicide, the mother said. She missed more than a month of school.

The lieutenant had until earlier this week maintained his innocence and claimed the girl’s mother was twisting the facts to help her husband, who had drunkenly fired shots at a military base in an alleged attempt to murder him.

Both men were suspended from duty and ordered off the base in mid-August over the incident, in which the sergeant major first-class claimed to have fired one shot into the floor in self-defence.

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30376113