Police in Kanchanaburi province have taken fingerprints and biological samples from a pickup truck driver and three Buddhist monks for forensic examination as the investigation into the death of a seven-year-old girl intensifies.
The three monks live at a monastery in the victim's neighbourhood in Sangkhla Buri district, and the pickup truck belongs to the monastery. No charges have been filed against the monks, the driver or an undocumented worker from Myanmar, who is being held for questioning in connection with the child's death.
Pol Lt-Gen Thana Chuwong, deputy national police chief, is due to visit Sangkhla Buri police station today to follow up on the case, as instructed by national police chief Pol Gen Kitrat Phanphet.
Police said the case has attracted widespread public attention in Kanchanaburi, with residents expecting swift progress in the investigation.
The victim, identified as "Nong Agoon", went missing from her home in Sangkhla Buri district on Saturday. Her body was found in a bamboo grove within a rubber plantation about 600 metres from her parents' home on Monday.
Forensic officers said they found two wounds beneath the girl's chin and bruises on her face and neck. Her body has been sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Police General Hospital in Bangkok for an autopsy.
