The Senate military affairs committee is investigating the death of a conscript, whom they suspect may have been fatally mistreated by a drill sergeant at the Naval Military Police Department in Sattahip district, Chon Buri.
The committee’s spokesperson, Vithavee Prathumsawat, told the media today that they have decided to assign a committee member, Major Korapot Runghirunwat, and an advisor, Lt- Commander Wuthipong Pongsuwan, to the department’s barracks to investigate the death of Pvt Siriwat Jaidee, who reportedly died during training.
Moreover, the committee’s secretary, Chaiyong Maneerungsakul, has been assigned to visit the victim’s family in Songkhla province to offer moral support and to hear their version of what happened to their son.
Wutthipong said that the tragic case is very important, because it has damaged the morale of the conscripts in general and the committee cannot afford to allow the case to pass without doing something to shed light on the incident.
He said that some commentators suspect that Siriwat’s death was the result of foul play, while others think that it could have been an accident, adding, however, that it is imperative to investigate the case to clear the air.
Last Friday, former election candidate of the now defunct Move Forward party, Nitchanan Wangkahart, accompanied the victim’s sister to lodge a complaint with the House military affairs committee, seeking a probe into the death of Siriwat.
In the complaint, the victim’s sister claims that the conscript had been subjected to “severe” training, during which he was assaulted by his drill sergeant and was made to stand in scorching sunlight for hours, as a punishment for “pretending” to feel unwell.
