Anger is rising in southern Thailand after two soldiers turned themselves in after a 16-year-old Muslim girl in Pattani province was raped. The reports have left the Muslim population enraged that the military had not taken swift action against the soldiers immediately and that the incident happened at all.
A local sheikh said, "It is disgusting that in our country, soldiers think they can ruin lives and use violence against our women. We know the soldiers are guilty, but if the government doesn't take hard action, we will rise up", warning the government that Muslims "will not stand by and allow our honor to be put in the mud."
| Oh, so they're going to bomb up the countryside and gun down a bunch of teachers. Wait, that's already happening... |
Privates Winai Klangwichai and Somyos Jantharaphut surrendered Tuesday in Pattani city, to face charges of gang rape and forcefully separating a girl from her parents. Winai was accused of raping the girl in January and Somyos allegedly filmed the act and posted it on the Internet, leading to a police investigation into the incident. |