Suchart Phumee, 39, hid the fruits of illegal abortions in an area of the temple of Wat Phai Ngern. Charged with concealment of a corpse and collusion with clinics engaged in illegal abortions. At first, the court sentenced the self confessed man to 667 years in prison.

Bangkok (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A court in Bangkok sentenced an undertaker to 20 years in prison on charges of having collaborated to conceal illegally aborted 2002 foetuses. The conviction is the result of the discovery, which occurred last year, of thousands of remains in a Buddhist temple of Wat Phai Ngern, located in the district of Bang Kholaem. At first the judges had sentenced the man to 667 years in prison for a crime that rocked Thai public opinion.

Yesterday, the South Bangkok Criminal Court sentenced Suchart Phumee (pictured), assistant undertaker of the Buddhist temple of Wat Phai Ngern to 8,008 months in prison for concealment of a corpse and collusion with clinics that practice illegal abortions. The judges wanted to impose an exemplary punishment for each foetus hidden and for each of the two offenses, he received two months of conviction.

After confessing the crimes committed in the courtroom, the 39 year old obtained the halving of the sentence (333 years). However, the law establishes 10 years as the maximum limit for each of the two offenses and for this Suchart will serve the heaviest punishment that courts could hand down, 20 years in prison. A second suspect, Suthep Chabangbon, has rejected the charges

According to the prosecutor and Suchart and Suthep, 47, helped former nurse Lanchakorn Jantamas to hide the foetus, illegally aborted between November 1, 2009 and November 13, 2010. The remains were concealed in an area of the temple, within plastic bags.

The affair has aroused uproar in Thailand, a country where abortion is provided only if the pregnancy put’s the mother’s life at risk or is the result of rape.

• Thailand
• court
• prison
• abortion
• illegal
• human
• rights
• life