Laos urges serious action in rape case

    The Foreign Ministry has strongly urged the Interior 
Ministry to take serious action in the rape of Lao girls in 
Rayong police cells before ties with Laos are damaged.
    Surapong Jayanama, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said 
yesterday a letter had been sent to the Interior Ministry on 
April 30 calling for a speedy conclusion.
    "This is a serious matter," he quoted the letter as 
saying. "If the Thai bureaucracy does not take action, it 
could sour Thai-Lao relations."
    Four Lao girls, aged 16-18, were gang-raped by inmates 
in a police cell after they were arrested between April 11-
14 on gambling charges and accused of illegal entry.
    Police said the girls had been put in the same cell with 
men because of a shortage of space.
    Authorities have been accused of slow progress in the 
case in which three Rayong policemen who were on duty have 
been transferred.
    Mr Surapong said the Foreign Ministry had received no 
progress report on the investigation from the Interior 
Ministry but affirmed the government was taking the case 
seriously.
    The first hearing of the case, scheduled for yesterday, 
was postponed until June 24 because the plaintiffs' lawyer 
did not appear in court.
    Lawyer Thongbai Thongpao was attending another function.
    http://www.bangkokpost.net/today/2205_news05.html 
    (Bangkok Post, 22 May 1997)