Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Thai family buries baby murdered on Facebook Live

-

Tearful relatives gathered outside a Thai temple on Saturday to bury an 11-month-old girl killed by her father in a harrowing murder he broadcast live on Facebook before committing suicide.

The Buddhist ceremony on the southern island of Phuket concluded a week of funeral rites for baby Natalie, who was hanged from the side of an abandoned building on Monday by her 20-year-old father Wuttisan Wongtalay.

Wuttisan, who hanged himself shortly after, filmed the macabre scene using his phone and broadcast it on Facebook Live.

The video was seen by Natalie's 22-year-old mother and hundreds of thousands of others before it was taken down some 24 hours later, prompting calls for Facebook to move more swiftly to block graphic content.

On Saturday relatives held Natalie's sobbing mother as Buddhist monks chanted around a freshly-dug grave for the infant, who was pictured in a framed photo wearing a red dress.

Her tiny body was swaddled in pink, red and white cloth before it was lowered into the ground alongside a collection of her favourite toys and pillows.

Natalie's mother, Jiranuch Trirat, scattered yellow chrysanthemum flowers over the body before other relatives piled dirt back into the grave.

"I feel better now that she's resting," Jiranuch told AFP after the ceremony.

Natalie's distraught grandmother, whose son carried out the murder, told AFP it pained her to know the video had been seen so widely circulated.

"I feel sorry from my heart that people shared and liked (the video). I'm sorry for what my son did," said Jinda Raksakham, fighting back tears.

What prompted Wuttisan to carry out such a horrifying act remains a mystery.

Jiranuch said she and her boyfriend frequently argued but that the young father had always been kind to their daughter.

The gruesome killing was the latest violent crime broadcast on Facebook Live, triggering a renewed debate over the handling of such content and provoking anger among some social media users who said the company was too slow to remove the clip.

Yet Jiranuch told AFP earlier this week that she harboured no ill will towards Facebook and even found it in herself to forgive her boyfriend.

"I forgive him because holding onto anger for a long time will not get my daughter back," she said.

Tearful relatives gathered outside a Thai temple on Saturday to bury an 11-month-old girl killed by her father in a harrowing murder he broadcast live on Facebook before committing suicide.

The Buddhist ceremony on the southern island of Phuket concluded a week of funeral rites for baby Natalie, who was hanged from the side of an abandoned building on Monday by her 20-year-old father Wuttisan Wongtalay.

Wuttisan, who hanged himself shortly after, filmed the macabre scene using his phone and broadcast it on Facebook Live.

The video was seen by Natalie’s 22-year-old mother and hundreds of thousands of others before it was taken down some 24 hours later, prompting calls for Facebook to move more swiftly to block graphic content.

On Saturday relatives held Natalie’s sobbing mother as Buddhist monks chanted around a freshly-dug grave for the infant, who was pictured in a framed photo wearing a red dress.

Her tiny body was swaddled in pink, red and white cloth before it was lowered into the ground alongside a collection of her favourite toys and pillows.

Natalie’s mother, Jiranuch Trirat, scattered yellow chrysanthemum flowers over the body before other relatives piled dirt back into the grave.

“I feel better now that she’s resting,” Jiranuch told AFP after the ceremony.

Natalie’s distraught grandmother, whose son carried out the murder, told AFP it pained her to know the video had been seen so widely circulated.

“I feel sorry from my heart that people shared and liked (the video). I’m sorry for what my son did,” said Jinda Raksakham, fighting back tears.

What prompted Wuttisan to carry out such a horrifying act remains a mystery.

Jiranuch said she and her boyfriend frequently argued but that the young father had always been kind to their daughter.

The gruesome killing was the latest violent crime broadcast on Facebook Live, triggering a renewed debate over the handling of such content and provoking anger among some social media users who said the company was too slow to remove the clip.

Yet Jiranuch told AFP earlier this week that she harboured no ill will towards Facebook and even found it in herself to forgive her boyfriend.

“I forgive him because holding onto anger for a long time will not get my daughter back,” she said.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

World

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks after signing legislation authorizing aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan at the White House on April 24, 2024...

Business

Meta's growth is due in particular to its sophisticated advertising tools and the success of "Reels" - Copyright AFP SEBASTIEN BOZONJulie JAMMOTFacebook-owner Meta on...

Business

The job losses come on the back of a huge debt restructuring deal led by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky - Copyright AFP Antonin UTZFrench...

Tech & Science

TikTok on Wednesday announced the suspension of a feature in its spinoff TikTok Lite app in France and Spain.