One of the three alleged victims who have filed sexual assault complaints against former Democrat party deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi has withdrawn from the Bangkok city councillor election on May 22nd.
Hathairat Vidhyaphum, aka “Anna”, said in her Facebook post today (Saturday) that she decided to pull out of the race, in which she was running on the Ruam Thai United party ticket in Bangkok’s Suan Luang district, to show that the accusation she has made against Prinn is not politically motivated.
The Ruam Thai United party issued a statement yesterday, voicing full support for Hathairat and other victims of all forms of sexual violence, saying that the party cannot sit idly by and let this kind of offence go unpunished.
“It is not an easy matter for a victim to take the case to the police or to tell the public, especially in a society in which the victims are often blamed or stigmatised. This requires resolve and courage,” said the party, as it urged justice and transparency in the legal process, allowing the evidence to speak for itself.
The alleged perpetrator, Prinn, surrendered at Lumpini police station this morning, to acknowledge one rape and two sexual assault charges against him. He denied all the charges.
He was released after being questioned by police, who claim that they have no power to hold him in custody because he turned himself in voluntarily and no arrest warrant has been issued yet.
The police do expect a court warrant to be issued for his arrest tomorrow.