Police collar cabbie for raping Brazilian
A taxi driver suspected of raping a Brazilian tourist was arrested yesterday in Nonthaburi and was found to have been linked to two previous sex attacks on passengers, police said.
Khamkhuncharoen Khonchaturas, 44, of Nakhon Ratchasima’s Sikhiu district, was apprehended on Samakkhi Road in Nonthaburi, a day after the alleged assault in Suphan Buri.
He was initially charged with rape, illegal detention, and theft with violence.
The arrest came after a 23-year-old tourist, from Brazil, filed a complaint with local police in Suphan Buri that she had been raped by a taxi driver.
She told police she hailed a taxi in front of Don Mueang airport on arrival from Malaysia about 1.30pm and told the driver to take her to Soi Thong Lor where she was to meet friends.
She said the driver took her through the city’s outskirts to Suphan Buri where he physically assaulted, raped and abandoned her.
She said she tried to fight her attacker off but was overpowered, according to police.
The victim was found in tambon Thung Khok, in Song Phi Nong district, with bruising to her face and taken to hospital.
She was released from hospital yesterday afternoon following a checkup.
Worried friends of the victim had posted messages on their Facebook pages seeking her whereabouts after she failed to arrive at the arranged meeting place in Thong Lor.
Police say Mr Khamkhuncharoen admitted the charges and was taken to the scene to re-enact his crime.
He was later escorted to the Suphan Buri provincial court where the victim identified him as the attacker.
Police said the suspect had a criminal record and was linked to two previous sex attacks on passengers.
The first victim was a 20-year-old Thai woman who was raped in Lat Lum Kaeo district of Pathum Thani on Sept 24, 2008.
The second victim was a 25-year-old Myanmar woman who was raped on Kamphaeng Phet 6 Road in the Thung Song Hong area of Bangkok on Jan 9, 2013.
The Department of Land Transport (DLT), meanwhile, ran checks and found Mr Khamkhuncharoen was not a registered taxi driver and did not have a licence to drive a public transportation vehicle.
The discovery was made after a representative from the taxi cooperative which the suspect leased his taxi from was summoned for questioning.
The DLT decided to revoke the registration of the taxi used in the attack, suspend for six months the cooperative’s plan to expand its taxi cab fleet, impose a fine of 2,000 baht for allowing the suspect to drive without a proper licence, and slapped the cooperative with an additional fine of 1,000 baht for failing to send the suspect’s records to the DLT.