A lawmaker accompanied the woman who had accused him of assault to a police station last night so that she could withdraw her criminal complaint, though the police may still pursue the matter.
Sirin Songwansin, a Move Forward Party member representing Bangkok’s Watthana and Taling Chan districts, visited the Bor Win Police Station southeast of the capital with his accuser Passarin Kaweewongskul to withdraw her complaint, station chief Anek Sathong said Monday.
Passarin’s original allegations accused Sirin of property damage and physical assault. While the former can be withdrawn, criminal matters of physical assault may not, even if the accuser reverses their decision to pursue the matter. The police are still required to investigate.
The 26-year-old woman said she was no longer upset and wanted to withdraw her complaints because her account of the incident was “exaggerated in the news with some inaccuracies.”
Neither Surin nor the woman mentioned whether financial compensation led to her change of heart. Last week, she wrote on social media that Sirin, with whom she had become romantically involved, punched her face and threw her phone while they were traveling in a vehicle. She included photos showing bruises on her body.
On Sunday, she played down the incident in a Facebook post, saying that in fact the two had struggled over her phone, which flew into her face “with great force” after Sirin forcefully snatched it away.
She said Sirin has apologized for his “unintentional” act and described “an incident of struggling and pushing each other near the car,” which caused her to accidentally trip and fall.
She said Sirin’s family had come forward to apologize, and said she would withdraw complaints as Sirin “learned his lesson not to engage in such behavior with her or anyone else.”
Both parties agreed to enter arbitration to resolve their dispute and recorded a statement with the investigating officer. The case will be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office for consideration.
Meanwhile, the disciplinary committee of the Move Forward Party has already questioned Sirin to determine what happened. It planned to forward the matter to the party’s executive committee to determine whether Sirin would remain an MP.
On Friday, Sirin said in statement that he had reached out to apologize to Passarin after she accused him of punching her in the face
While he did not go so far as to admit legal wrongdoing, Sirin said he deeply regretted his actions and wanted to apologize and take responsibility.
Move Forward representatives said Wednesday that they were taking the allegations seriously.
“Regarding the case of the MP being accused of physical assault, the party considers the incident to be a serious matter,” it said in a statement posted online.
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