Buddhist couple beheaded
2005-06-24 10:45
Bangkok - The bodies of a Buddhist couple were found shot and nearly decapitated on Friday in restive southern Thailand, adding to the five other beheadings in the past three weeks, police said.
Jad Suwanchatree, 52, a defence volunteer in Muang district of Yala province, and his wife Serm, 51, were riding their motorcycle to tap rubber from a plantation when they were killed.
"As Jad stopped his motorcycle to remove wood which blocked the road, he was shot and slashed in his neck, as was his wife," police in Yala said.
"Their heads were not totally separated from their bodies" although a doctor confirmed the cause of death for both was their neck injuries, police added.
More than 720 people have died in southern Thailand since the violence erupted there in January 2004.