A Chantaburi man recently released from prison after serving nearly seven years for attempted murder has been arrested for allegedly raping a Danish woman in Huay Yai.
Banleng Huadcharoen, 29, was taken into custody Oct. 3 at his home in Chantaburi’s Muang District for the Sept. 30 rape of a 23-year-old expat woman at a cassava field off Highway 331. Banleng was charged with sexual assault, but denied the charges, saying his wife and daughter would vouch that he was at home at the time.
Banleng Huadcharoen has been arrested for allegedly raping a Danish woman in Huay Yai.
Police, however, said the Danish victim identified Banleng and that they had a closed-circuit television camera photo of him in the area at the time. Police also recovered hairs and other evidence at the crime scene and are testing it for a DNA match.
Banleng was convicted of attempted murder in 1995 and spent six years and nine months in prison before being released in the past year. His wife recently delivered their child.
The victim, who works in the Pattaya area, had just drawn money from an ATM machine north of Pattaya and was waiting for a taxi on the roadside when a man, impersonating a motorcycle-taxi driver, picked up her up Sept. 27.
She knew she was in trouble when he veered onto Route 331 and into a cassava field, but the bike was traveling too fast for her to jump off. After stealing 23,000 baht from her and raping her, he forced her to ride back the same way with him.
She finally jumped off, causing minor injuries, and called her sister, who works at a real estate company in the area. Both proceeded to report the crime. The victim’s family offered a 100,000 baht reward, but Region 2 police refused it, saying they were simply doing their jobs.
