The brother of a man beaten to death in prison filed a complaint yesterday at the Crime Suppression Division to seek justice for the deceased.
Siwakorn Jeungchareon says his brother Kritsana Jeungchareon, 37, was arrested in Yan Nawa district for drunk driving on March 6. Unable to afford bail, he was sentenced by a sub-district court to 42 days in prison.
On his first night in Khlong 5 Prison in Pathum Thani province, Kritsana was beaten by nine inmates. He was left untreated and when guards found him severely injured in the morning, they filmed a video but did nothing to help. He died hours later in prison.
Here’s the twist: Kritsana’s family didn’t learn of his death for some time, as he used a fake name at the time of his arrest because he’d had a prior drunken driving conviction and feared a harsher penalty for a repeat offense.
No one ever checked his ID, so according to the president of Helping Crime Victim Community, Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, Kritsana was processed and sent to prison as “Thanakij Sapking.”
Helping Crime Victim Community is a prisoner rights’ group that is helping the Jeungchareon family.
Atchariya blames investigators in Yan Nawa and the prison guards for Kritsana’s death, Manager reported.
The video of Kritsana taken the morning after he was beaten was released on Facebook on Monday and brought the case the attention it deserves.
According to the Kapook, Kritsana was buried in a graveyard in Chonburi because he used a fake name and authorities could not reach his relatives.
