PATHUM THANI — A man committed suicide
last night in his northern metro Bangkok home, days after an online
claim was made that he was the bomber behind the Erawan Shrine attack.
Kittisak
Meemang, 36, was discovered hanged in his bedroom at his home in Pathum
Thani province at around 9pm last night, police told reporters, and his
family believes he was hounded into taking his life after someone used
his Facebook account to post a message in his name.
“The
[statuses] said something like, ‘I am the one who bombed Ratchaprasong
Intersection,’” his sister Anchittha Meemang said, referring to the
intersection where the shrine is located.
Police ruled his death a suicide, saying they found nothing to indicate he’d been assaulted.
Anchittha
said that before killing himself, Kittisak had recounted visiting an
internet cafe on Sunday where he forgot to logout from his Facebook
account. He told Anchittha that someone must have used his account to
post a message claiming he was responsible for the bomb which killed 20
people and injured 150 more.
“I
tried talking to him and deleted all the messages on my brother’s
Facebook, and I deactivated it to end the problems,” she said, adding
they went together to a local police station to file a report together
as evidence his account was misused to post the message.
His
family told reporters that Kittisak was involved in a car accident last
year which left him with unspecified “brain damage.” They believe he
took his life after becoming distraught over the chorus of condemnation
he received for the message, including death threats and intimidation
that carried over into the physical world.
His aunt Usa Meemang said Kittisak said he received “many” death threats via Facebook before deleting his account.
Two
men on a motorcycle stopped Kittisak while he was going to work at
around 9am yesterday and punched him before driving away, she said,
adding that he filed a police complaint and then chose to stay home from
work.
“After
I cooked my dinner, I didn’t see my nephew coming down from his bedroom
to eat dinner, so I went to see him, and I discovered that he was
hanged dead,” Usa said.
Police sent Kittisak’s body for an autopsy and said the incident is under investigation.
Source: Khaosan
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