Crime
Monk Killed While Stealing Soap and Talcum Powder
Ubon Ratana police chief Naris Piakas said two bars of soap and a can of talcum powder from the shop were found in the monk’s bag.
A monk has been shot and killed after he broke into a store to get soap and talcum powder. The indecent happened in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The burglary and shooting at Ban Than Tawan was reported to police in Ubon Ratana district about 3am. The shop owner Theerapol Theparos was waiting and immediately handed over a rifle when police arrived.
The Monk, Phra Winai Sutthiyano, 48, was lying on the floor inside the shop, bleeding heavily. He was rushed by ambulance to Ubon Ratana Hospital, and declared dead on arrival.
Mr Theerapol told police he fired through a door at a burglar, unaware the intruder was a monk he saw most days collecting alms in the village.
The shop owner said he was asleep in another room and heard noises coming from the shop. “I called out, thinking it might be someone I knew, but there was no answer,” he said.
“When I tried to open the door into the shop, something held it shut,” he said. Fearing for the safety of his family, he fired his shotgun through the closed door into the store, Mr Theerapol told the Bangkok Post.
When he then managed to open the door, he found a monk collapsed on the floor on the other side.
Ubon Ratana police chief Naris Piakas said two bars of soap and a can of talcum powder from the shop were found in the monk’s bag.
