Justice Ministry to amend sex crime laws

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BANGKOK– Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has instructed the Justice Ministry to review laws on violence against women.

T09-07-16-3

General Prayut disclosed that the existing laws would be adjusted in line with international laws. The legal amendments will entail improvements in the terms and conditions of granting bail to a rape suspect, as well as in the enforcement of the law against a rapist.

Incidents of the gruesome rape and murder of women in the past few years have sparked a public outcry and calls for harsher punishments for convicted rapists. In 2014, a 13-year-old girl was raped, strangled and thrown from a train by a member of the train’s staff. In early July this year, a female teacher in Saraburi was killed in her apartment, by a former inmate who attempted to rape her.

Gen Prayut said he was saddened by the plight of these victims, adding that the newly-adjusted laws should restore public confidence in the country’s criminal justice system. He commented that campaigns aimed at building conscience among offenders were also essential to prevent a recurrence of a crime, in addition to legal enforcement.