KANCHANABURI: A temple novice is in coma after the boy suffered multiple injuries from an alleged attack by a senior monk.
Novice Wattanapol Sisawad, 9, is receiving medical treatment at Phaholpolpayuhasena Hospital in Muang district and doctors said on Sunday that his condition is seriously deteriorating. The boy remains unconscious.
Police said his body and head were severely bruised, and his hand wrist were broken.
The novice was ordained at Wat Don Khamin in Tha Maka district of the central province.
Pol Capt Amnat Chanbutr, the deputy chief of Luk Kae police station, said the injuries came from a physical attack and the prime suspect was Luang Ta Suppachai Sutthiyano, 64, a senior monk at the temple.
The monk was summonsed for interrogation at the police station on Sunday, but police have yet to press charges against him.
Wat Don Khamin in Tha Maka district, Kanchanaburi, where novice Wattanapol Sisawad was allegedly attacked. (Photo by Piyarach Chongcharoen)
Novice Wattanapol was injured on Saturday and admitted to the ICU at Makarak Hospital in Tha Maka. After his condition did not improve, he was transferred to Phaholpolpayuhasena Hospital later that night.
The boy is in the ICU with his mother, Sukanya Tunhin, and other relatives in attendance. His father, Wattana Sisawad, is travelling from Rayong to visit him in the Kanchanaburi hospital.