NAKHON RATCHASIMA - A man has been rescued and taken to hospital after spending the past two years being assaulted and tortured by his employers — a husband and wife — because he could not achieve their sales targets.
The victim, identified only as Kong, 38, was escorted by the social media crusader Guntouch Pongpaiboonwet, aka Gun Jompalang, as he filed a report with police in Non Thai district on Friday.
Injuries were visible all over Mr Kong’s body, particularly on his buttocks, which were covered with welts that had become infected. Whip marks were found on his legs, and there were open wounds on his head. He also lost a tooth during one assault.
Police took photos of the victim’s body as evidence.
The victim told police that he first met the couple over 10 years ago in his hometown of Chiang Mai before he went to work for them in Nakhon Ratchasima. Things were fine at first, and he was paid his salary regularly.
However, over the past two years, he said he had not been receiving a salary, and his ATM card was taken by his employer, who claimed it was to prevent him from wasteful spending.
His employers also blamed him for not achieving sales targets and started punishing him. Mr Guntouch did not elaborate on the nature of the business or what it sold.
The man was provided one meal a day, mostly plain rice, if he was unable to make a sale. According to him, the couple whipped him more than 1,000 times and applied electric shocks to his abdomen and genitals.
They reportedly said to him: “Someone like you should no longer reproduce.”
When he passed out from the physical assaults, he said, the couple would wake him again to continue the abuse.
The victim had thought of escaping several times, but he was worried about his family as the employers threatened they would seize his house and land.
Pol Lt Col Tawat Boonkaeha, the deputy inspector of the Non Thai police station, said the couple would be summoned to acknowledge the charges.