A young woman has been rescued after being treated like a slave by a restaurant owner who allegedly abused and tortured her for years.
The alleged mistreatment occurred after the owner had earlier helped the woman and her family when she was abducted and abused as a teenager.
A good samaritan, Ekkapop Laungprasert, the founder of Sai Mai Tong Rot (Survive) Facebook page, rescued the woman, later accompanying the 21-year-old victim to file a police report on Wednesday.
The young woman reportedly started working at the Japanese restaurant in Bangkok's Phasi Charoen district when she was 16. She had quit the job but later resumed her employment when she was 17 and pregnant.
The victim said the restaurant owner had offered her 10.000 baht towards the cost of her giving birth, and also paid her father’s medical bills after he had an accident.
She had been abducted and while held became pregnant. The restaurant owner had helped her file a complaint with police and press charges against the man responsible.
Now 21, the victim was the sole worker at the restaurant, responsible for all tasks. According to her statement, the restaurant owner forced her to live in the kitchen and gave her one meal a day. She received no pay for her work.
The restaurant owner also allegedly physically abused and tortured her. This included splashing boiling water on her, burning her with a gas torch, tying her neck with wire until she could not breathe, cutting her skin and lips with a knife and burning her genitals.
“I begged [the restaurant owner] not to hurt me but he told me that he had to because some customers had complained. I was so depressed that I thought about taking my own life," she said.
"Some customers asked me what had I done to my body. I had to lie that I had an accident because the owner ordered me not to tell anyone,” she said.
The victim said she had tried to contact police but her employer threatened her, saying he knew senior police officers who would back him up.
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said he would call in the superintendent of Pasi Charoen police and they would jointly question the restaurant owner about the woman’s allegations. No names have been released.
