BURI RAM: The mother of a 22-year-old university sophomore who was allegedly beaten to death by seniors last year has called for justice for her son, saying there has been little progress in the case.
Manasnan Tamklang, 59, of Nong Ki district in Buri Ram, said her youngest son Veeraphan “Pleum” Tamklang had died almost a year ago but the investigation was moving at a snail’s pace.
Since the loss of her son, she said, she had been living her life like a dead person and did not want to open her eyes. She called on the agencies responsible to accelerate the investigation.
Veerapha, a second-year civil engineering student at Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, Uthenthawai Campus in Pathum Wan district of Bangkok, was allegedly beaten to death by a group of senior students on May 27 last year.
His mother said the seniors had punished him for refusing to follow their orders during preparations for a hazing ritual for first-year students at the campus.
Her son survived in hospital for eight days before he died on June 5, she said tearfully.
Police handling the case and the university have never given her an update about the case, said Ms Manasnan. She had to ask her eldest son and a lawyer to follow up, and all they were told was that the case was being handled, she said.
As far as she knew, the case has not yet reached prosecutors. Her family fears the case would fade away and her son would not receive justice.
Last year, police investigators said they would ask the Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for 12 senior students for alleged involvement in the beating of Veeraphan.
On June 9 last year, Pol Maj Gen Piya Tawichai, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, who headed the investigation, said officers believed there was sufficient evidence to seek warrants for the 12 after reviewing CCTV and questioning witnesses.
Security video taken on May 27 showed Veeraphan entering a building on the campus with his friend; he was carried out of the building and taken to hospital one hour later.
According to Pol Gen Piya, the seniors had called second-year students to a meeting to discuss hazing activities for freshmen. They ordered the sophomores to sit abreast of one another and then kicked each of them for punishment.
Veeraphan, the head of the class, was allegedly kicked hard as punishment for not giving his opinion.
Ms Manasnan’s update on her son’s case comes just days after another fatal incident drew renewed public attention to the frequently violent culture of hazing on Thai campuses.
Seven seniors are facing charges in the death of a 19-year-old Padyos “Prem” Chonpakdi, a freshman at Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, following a brutal beating in a field outside the campus on the night of March 13.
Ekachai Chonpakdi, 55, brought his son’s body back home to Nakhon Si Thammarat on Friday night for funeral rites to be held at a temple in Sikhiu district.
He said on some senior students had tried to contact him about mourning his son’s death, but he did not want them to come for fear that relatives would be upset.
If their parents wanted to come, he said, he would let them attend the funeral rites as they were aware of what their children had done.
Earlier, Mr Ekachai rejected a 500,000-baht compensation offer by parents of the seven seniors involved, and said he would seek justice through the courts.
