Crime
Thai Police Hunt For Assailant Who Raped a Norwegian Woman at Half Moon Party
SURAT THANIĀ – Police are hunting for an Asian man, who allegedly raped a Norwegian tourist on Pha-ngan Island after she returned from the Half Moon Party on May 12.
Chief of Surat Thani police, Pol Maj Gen Apichart Boonsriroj and investigation and forensic teams today inspected the scene to gather evidence after the 26-year-old Norwegian tourist filed a complaint that she was raped by a motorcyclist on Sunday May 12th, TNA reported.
The tourist said after returning to her hotel from the Half Moon party, she found that she lost her wallet.
She and her male friend went out to look for the wallet but they failed to find it. Her friend went back to the hotel while she decided to walk back alone to the beach to the party site.
About 100 meters from her hotel, she met an Asian man on a motorcycle, who offered her a ride to look for her wallet. The man rode into a small alley, attacked her and raped her.
The woman told police that she tried to fight and her locket, navel jewellery and fake nails must have dropped at the scene and police are collecting evidence at the scene.
The victim underwent a physical checkup and is under the care of tourist police.
The police found the image of the suspect on CCTV camera footage and are hunting for the man.
By Geoff Thomas
NEWS UPDATE:
The Bangkok Post has reported that Police on Monday evening arrested a Thai man for allegedly raping a Norwegian woman aged 26, one day after he was released from jail for narcotic offenses.
Police identified the suspect as Rewat Hansuwan, a 33-year-old native of Khanom district in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. He was arrested at a motorcycle repair shop near Thong Sala market on Koh Phangan.
The surveillance camera footage shows the suspected rapist on his motorcycle talking to the Norwegian woman and her male friend – Photo Supapong Chaolan
Police found he and his motorcycle matched the descriptions of the suspect in surveillance camera footage. The man was seen talking with the Norwegian woman and her male friend before the rape.
Police said the man had been freed on Saturday from a prison on the nearby Koh Samui after serving his term for narcotic possession and trafficking. He later applied for a job at the motorcycle repair shop on Koh Phangan.
Police were interrogating him and already received a warrant for his arrest from the Koh Samui Court that allows for his detention.
