Girl, 3, Escapes Alleged Beating, Burning By Teen Dad

[Boo Radley]

A battered 3-year-old girl was taken into protective custody by Khlong Ton police last night after she sought help from neighbors in her apartment building to escape physical abuse reportedly inflicted by her teen stepfather.

Yupin Apartment owner Nirut Tipmanee called the police after he found a starved toddler with bruises and cigarette burns on her face and body. The 3-year-old girl, whose name was withheld, told rescue volunteers she was injured by her 17-year-old stepfather.

"Papa hit me. Papa hit me with a belt and burned me with cigarettes," the girl told the rescue volunteers. "It hurt, and I cried, but my mom didn't help me."

According to Nirut, the girl's mother is a 19-year-old convenience store worker, and her stepfather is a 17-year-old mortician at a Sukhumvit Road temple. Authorities withheld both of their names from the public.

Nirut added he did not know the couple had a child until yesterday.

The rescue volunteers fed the toddler before contacting Prachabodi Foundation and sending her for a health checkup at Police General Hospital.

After the couple learned the story had reached the police, the stepfather reportedly fled while the teen mother was detained by the police, who she pleaded with to keep the story private.

The mother told the police her daughter is stubborn and always cries. She claimed her husband drank beer and hit their daughter on Sunday night, but denied she had witnessed physical abuse before that incident.

Police do not believe the mother’s testimony, as the child insists she has been hit by her stepfather many times.

Charges have yet to be filed as police are waiting for the girl’s medical results and the opportunity to question the 17-year-old stepfather.

The child is now in the care of the Prachabodi Foundation, Daily News and Nation TV reported.

http://bangkok.cocon...urning-teen-dad 26/08/14