Published on June 24, 2005
Police insensitivity and lack of training might have contributed to the apparent suicide of Wassana Sunee, the mistress of Thai Rak Thai MP Attaphol Sanitwongchai, human rights activists said yesterday.
“It was like a second blow. I’m not quite sure, but the police may have been one of the causes,” said Pairoj Polpetch, secretary-general of the Union for Civil Liberty.
Wassana, 25, plunged from her 10th-floor apartment on Wednesday just hours after Attaphol, her lover, fell to his death from the same apartment. She died later in hospital from her injuries. Police interviewed Wassana shortly before her death, Pairoj said, and they should have realised from the bruises on her face that she required assistance or a lawyer at the very least. “No effort was made to make sure someone was looking after her when the police released her. She was in a difficult position.” Attaphol fell to his death from the apartment at 3am on Wednesday. Later that morning, police conducted a 45-minute interview with Wassana and allowed her to return to the apartment unsupervised. “The police should have asked her whether or not she was ready to be questioned,” Pairoj said, adding it was not clear if she was told whether she was being interrogated as a witness or a suspect. Pairoj said police were trained to be sensitive when dealing with children under 18, but they did not appear to be trained to deal with women who have been physically assaulted or have just suffered a loss. He said Wassana underwent a more intensive interrogation than usual because the victim was an MP – a sign of unequal treatment. “When the police went to the scene they conducted a careful study of the dead MP, but did they allow the woman to be treated by a doctor or note the physical violence she appeared to have suffered?” said a female human rights lawyer, who asked not to be named. The police investigator was unavailable for comment when The Nation called yesterday. Pravit Rojanaphruk The Nation
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