Pakistani man gets life sentence for killing Thai woman

Bangkok, Mar 30 (UNI) A 34-year-old Pakistani man was today sentenced to life imprisonment by Thailand's Criminal Court for the murder of a Thai woman teacher whom he had befriended on the internet.

The court reduced the death sentence it handed down to Mohammed Arif as he had confessed to the crime. The convicted man has been ordered to pay 2.2 million Baht (about 62,800 US dollars) to the victim's parents.

Arif became acquainted with the victim, Priyanun Thongnakthae over the internet. Priyanun, an English language teacher in Thailand's northeastern Ubon Ratchathani province had gone to Bangkok to meet him.

According to police, the Pakistani national had lied to the woman about his identity pretending to be a Spanish and this led to a quarrel when they met.

The woman was killed in May last year in a Bangkok hotel, her body dismembered, the pieces put in four suitcases were dumped by Arif.

UNI