January 13 2011
British Embassy officials in Thailand have assisted in the ‘escape’ from Thailand of a 23-yr-old woman from Manchester who was reportedly involved in a horrific gang-rape on the resort island of Phuket.
The woman claimed she was gang raped for two hours by a group of Swedes and Thais in a hotel room in Patong Beach, Phuket, after agreeing to go back for a party there.
According to a friend: ‘She said she went back to the room with a Swede and once inside discovered there were five others there, including three Thais.
‘A hood of some sort was placed over her head. She was raped and then afterwards somehow one of them got on the her phone to her mother. There was laughter as one of the gang members told her mother that unless she sent money, her daughter would be raped again.’
The friend added: ‘Afterwards she went to find the Embassy official, Honorary Consul Martin Carpenter. I don’t think she could even remember her attackers and I guess she was drunk.’
The woman, who claims to have been attacked in Patong Beach, was got back to England within 48 hours despite the fact that she had overstayed her visa and was working illegally, which both carry jail terms.
She had got a job on the island after answering an advertisement for ‘Time-Share’ sales staff but quickly became penniless after earning little commission.
It is understood, that even though Embassy officials took her first for medical examination, she decided that it would be hopeless to attempt a prosecution.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We can confirm we gave consular assistance in this case’.
In the case of sexual attacks on Britons abroad the FCO is able to offer much more help than in other distressed Briton cases. They will send staff to accompany victims to police, arrange medical treatment and examinations, and in the event that the victim wants to leave the country immediately they can even arrange instant loans for the flight, and deal with immigration issues.
Link to Foreign Office resources for victims of rape overseas.
http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/2855621/rape-and-sexual-assault-overseas
