Death penalty for Thai woman accused of murdering fourteen friends with cyanide
Bangkok: A 36-year-old woman in Thailand has been sentenced to death in the first of a string of cases in which she is accused of murdering 14 friends with cyanide.
The court in Bangkok on Wednesday found Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, guilty of putting poison in a wealthy friend's food and drink while they were on a trip last year. According to a report by the Guardian, the two met near Bangkok in April 2023 to release fish into the Mae Klong river as part of a Buddhist ritual. Siriporn collapsed and died shortly afterwards and investigators found traces of cyanide in her body. Her phone, money and bags were missing when she was found.
Tongpin Kiatchanasiri, Siriporn’s mother, told reporters that the court’s decision is fair. “I want to tell my daughter that I miss her deeply and justice has been done for her today,” she expressed.
Sararat, described as an online gambling addict, is accused of swindling thousands of dollars from her victims before killing them with the chemical.
“She asked people she knows for money because she has a lot of credit card debt; and if they asked her for their money back, she started killing them,” Surachate Hakparn, deputy national police chief, was quoted as saying by the publication.
She has lured 15 people, one of whom survived, to take poisoned “herb capsules”. Sararat faces 13 more separate murder trials and has been charged with about 80 offences in total.
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2 Indian journalists win Pulitzer Prize for highlighting cyber fraud
New York (PTI): Indian journalists Anand RK and Suparna Sharma have won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for their work highlighting digital surveillance and cyber fraud.
Anand and Sharma won the award, announced on Monday, in the Illustrated Reporting and Commentary category. They share the award with Natalie Obiko Pearson of Bloomberg.
According to The Pulitzer Prizes website, the award-winning work titled “trAPPed”, produced for Bloomberg, narrates the "riveting account" of a neurologist in India who was held under a “digital arrest” through her phone, using a blend of "visuals and words" to underscore the "growing global challenges of surveillance and digital scams".
The Pulitzer Prizes, administered by Columbia University, are regarded as among the highest honours in journalism, literature and music composition, recognising excellence in reporting and storytelling.
