CRIME
Foetus horror widens
Published on November 20, 2010
Count rises steeply as police inspection uncovers another 1,654 from two morgues; Three celebrities face questioning; immunity likely for undertakers in exchange for more info
The number of dead foetuses yesterday rose to 2,002 after the inspection of two morgues uncovered another 1,654 carcasses.
Police are set to summon the three celebrities named by the former nurse Lanchakorn Janthamanas, when she was arrested on Wednesday, as having aborted their babies with her.
Police have secured detention of Lanchakorn after obtaining a court approval to extend her detention for more questioning. She had no visitors or a bail request submitted by anybody throughout her earlier and current detention.
More temple officials would be questioned over their suspicious link or awareness to the crimes, Nong Khaem police said.
Suchart Phoomee, another undertaker who was involved in disposing the foetuses, yesterday accused Lanchakorn's mother, Sombat Sinothok, of lying when she told the media that she had nothing to do with her daughter's abortion business. Police found a notebook in which Suchart recorded the number of foetuses delivered to him by the two women.
Suchart said Lanchakorn worked as an assistant nurse at a Bangkok hospital before she started operating the abortion clinic. The abortionist's mother got involved in the operation after her daughter was discharged from another hospital from an unspecified position and for unknown reasons. The undertaker apologised for his actions at a reenactment yesterday at the temple. He appeared stressed and depressed during the session.
Suchart and Suthep Chabangbon have not been charged with hiding or disposing of dead bodies yet, because police are reportedly planning to allow them legal immunity in exchange for information about Lanchakorn and other possible abortionists.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health Services Support will scrutinise more than 4,000 private clinics that provide familyplanning schemes and are located near student dormitories and universities across Bangkok.
"The department has been informed of four clinics in Bangkok had provide illegal abortions," the agency's director general Dr Somchai Pinyopornpanich said yesterday.
This crackdown follows the discovery of nearly 300 aborted foetuses on Tuesday at the Phai Ngern Temple on Soi Trokchan 20 in Bangkok's Bang Kho Laem district.
Somchai said the department had questioned a suspect and discovered some clues linked to other illegal abortion clinics.
"We've got some clues from the suspect but he did not give us the name of the clinics. He just told us the areas," he said, adding that the doctors at the private clinics, who had registered with the department and provided illegal abortions, would be imprisoned for five years and fined Bt10,000.
Doctors will be fined Bt 14,000 and sevenyearjail term, if doctor has caused a single death.
Department will also ask the Medical Council of Thailand to give punishment to doctor who undergo illegal abortion and abuse code of conduct.
"Most of illegal abortion had been underwent at private place," Somchai said.
Meanwhile Health Productive Division's director Dr Kittipong Saejeng said the division found that about 60 percent of abortion were women aged under 25yearold and 40 percent of abortion were women aged over 25yearold.
"Most of women with unwanted pregnancy are afraid to consult with their family. So, they made their decision to undergo abortion," he said.
He added the division found that about 11,000 women had underwent abortion at hospital per year and about 150,0000 women to 200,000 women per year went to private places to underwent illegal abortion.
However, he said a draft bill on reproductive health protection, which would help to resolve abortion in teenager problem, will proposed to the cabinet meeting on November 23.
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