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| Southeast Asia |
| Murder victim's wife slams scared villagers |
| 2007-01-01 |
| Local people stood by and did nothing as two teachers were shot and burned by suspected militants in Yala The wife of a teacher who was shot dead and set on fire by suspected militants has accused local villagers of doing nothing while her husband and his colleague were set ablaze. On Friday, suspected militants shot dead Chamnong Chupatpong, the director of the Ban Bado elementary school, and a teacher, Manoe Sonkaew, and set their bodies on fire on a road just 100 metres away from the village school at which they worked in Yala's Tambon Yupo. Kawin Chupatpong said the attack on her husband and his colleague had taken place in front of the villagers, who remained inside their homes instead of coming out to help the two victims. "My husband has been helping them and educating their children for the past decade, and the differences in our religious beliefs was never an obstacle. But this shows that our good deeds were not reciprocated," Kawin said. "My father and his school helped raised money for the construction of the local mosque, so the children could have a place to pray. He even used his own money," said the couple's daughter Monthida, a senior at Kasetsart University. Police Maj-General Phaitoon Choochaiya, commander of the Yala Provincial Police, told reporters yesterday that the absence of eyewitnesses has made his work much more difficult. He said the brutal attack had sent a chilling message to the entire community, and hence the refusal of the villagers to come forward with information. Yala deputy governor Nathaphon Wicheanpert said the level of brutality was part of a strategy by the militants to test their recruits to see how far they were willing to go. More than 1,900 people, mostly Muslims of Malay ethnicity, have been killed in the deep South since January 2004. Authorities said a new generation of militants have effectively shattered the fabric of the local community by singling out monks and teachers, along with security officials and their informants. Somart Suwanthawi, deputy director of Education District One in Yala, described the incident as "unthinkable". "We have to accept the fact that the villagers are very scared. This has forced them to stay away from these kinds of incidents," Somart said. Colonel Shinawatra Mandej, commander of Yala's Task Force 1, said security units were looking to come up with a new strategy to better protect teachers. Chamnong and Manoe were armed with handguns but apparently were no match for the militants. |
| Posted by:tipper |