When the village headman loses it

BURI RAM: A mentally-disturbed man in Buri Ram’s Ban Dan district sliced off the head of his brother-in-law then walked around the village in a demented state, carrying the head in a plastic bag and laughing. The incident occurred in Tambon Prasaat on the morning of August 2. The victim, a 68-year-old farmer named Bun Tharuangrum, was living in the village with his wife Hai Nuphanram, 65, and her younger brother Chuay Nuphanram. The couple’s seven daughters had all married and gone off to live elsewhere. When police arrived, they found more than 100 villagers standing around in sadness and shock, looking at the victim’s headless body. Beside it was the bloody knife that had been used to carry out the murder. One neighbor, 58-year-old Suk Klaharn, told police that Chuay had appeared at their home that morning carrying K. Bun’s bloody head in a plastic bag, laughing and asking them what he should do with it. The question was never answered, since K. Suk and his entire household fled screaming in every direction. The victim’s wife told police that her younger brother had a long history of mental illness. He had been in and out of mental hospitals for years, but his condition continued to deteriorate because he refused to take his prescribed medication. When police arrived, Chuay made no effort to flee, but rather walked straight over to one arresting official and handed over the plastic bag containing the head and asked, “Where are you going to take it?”