Seventeen-year-old migrant worker raped in Samut Sakhon, Thailand

October 27, 2008

WCRP: A seventeen-year-old girl from Zin Gyike village, Poung Township, Mon State was raped in Thailand’s Samut Sakhon Province on October 19th.

The victim is employed at a shop owned by a woman from Mudon town, Mon State. The incident occurred late at night in the shop. The perpetrator is the ex-husband of the shop owner, Ko Naing, 35, from Kyarinnseikekyi Township, Karen State.

According to a Woman and Child Rights Project (WCRP) field worker, “the victim said that at that she shouted and asked help from the neighbors but no one heard because they were tired after returning from their work and they were in a deep sleep.”

According to the WCRP field worker, the victim’s uncle beat her when he learned of the incident. The uncle also fought with the perpetrator.

The perpetrator proposed that the girl marry him, but she refused. His ex-wife reported the rape to the Labor Action Network (LPN), which works to protect the rights of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand.

LPN workers brought the girl to a safe house, where they attempted to give her counseling and medical treatment. According to the WCRP field worker, the girl cried and refused to eat for two days. She also refused medical treatment, and wanted only to go be with a friend in Phuket. Afraid that she would commit suicide, LPN workers did not prevent the girl from going to her friend.

The victim came to Thailand at sixteen. She had worked at the shop for 3 months, before which she worked at a construction site.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News