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