WARNING – DISTRESSING CONTENT: Wuttisan Wongtalay, 21, hanged his 11-month-old daughter Natalie, and took his own life at a deserted hotel in Phuket on Monday
In a chilling incident, a man was caught on camera murdering his baby daughter on Facebook[1] Live before ending his own life.
Thai police reported 21-year-old Wuttisan Wongtalay hanged his 11-month-old daughter Natalie and then took his own life at an abandoned hotel in Phuket on Monday, following a reported row with his wife in 2017.
Shockingly, the horrifying clip remained live on Facebook for a full day.
Facebook expressed condolences to the family for the “appalling” incident and subsequently removed the content.
Local television later showed heart-wrenching images of the child’s mother, 21-year-old Chiranut Trairat, tearfully cradling her baby girl in her arms, reports the Express[2].
“I am not angry at Facebook or blaming them on this,” she told the Associated Press. “I am not angry at those who shared the video. I understand that people shared the video because they were outraged and saddened by what happened. This is because of someone I was close to.”
She revealed her husband had a history of abusive behaviour and had spent two years in prison before they began dating.
Footage also captured her weeping beside her daughter’s coffin at a temple, gently knocking on it and saying, “my child, mamma is here.”
According to police, this incident marked the first known killing to be broadcast on Facebook in Thailand. One user described it as the “most evil clip I’ve seen in my life”.
The footage of the Thai killing was also available on video sharing website YouTube[3], but the company removed it after the BBC[4] alerted them to its presence.
Facebook has vowed to review its procedures after a horrific video of a US murder remained on the platform for several hours in 2017. The family of Wuttisan Wongtalay saw the distressing footage and alerted the police, but sadly, they arrived too late to save him and his daughter.
A spokesperson for Facebook expressed their condolences, stating: “This is an appalling incident and our hearts go out to the family of the victim. There is absolutely no place for content of this kind on Facebook and it has now been removed.”
In Thailand, concerns about Facebook Live arose in 2016 when local media used the platform to broadcast live footage of a university lecturer wanted in connection with the deaths of two colleagues. After a chilling six-hour standoff with the police, he tragically took his own life on camera.
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