A post-mortem examination has revealed that a suspect in a land corruption case, previously reported as committing suicide in custody, was actually killed by internal bleeding and suffocation. 

 

On Tuesday, 30 August 2016, Thawatchai Anukul, a 66-year-old retired official of the Department of Lands, was reported to have hanged himself while detained at the Department of Special Investigation (DSI). Thawatchai was arrested on 29 August for alleged involvement in land corruption in the south of Thailand.   

 

One day later, a doctor who performed an autopsy on Thawatchai revealed that the suspect died from internal bleeding in the stomach, a ruptured liver caused by the impact of sharp or hard objects, and suffocation, reported Thai PBS.  

 

According to Thai PBS, Chainarong Anukul, Thawatchai’s brother, said that he had doubts about Thawatchai’s death since one DSI official told him that his brother used a t-shirt to hang himself but another said that he used socks.