2,000 Dead Fetuses Found In A Buddhist Temple in Thailand
Thai authorities have found dozens of white plastic bags on the grounds of a Buddhist temple containing 2,000 fetuses hidden in the temple’s mortuary.
They think the human remains were put there by women who tried to conceal the illegal abortions they had.
The police was drawn there by the stench of the remains on Tuesday, and they began searching the mortuary, where usually the dead bodies are stored to be cremated, and found at first 300 fetuses.
They returned on Friday to find some 1,700 more. The health officials along with the police and charity workers placed each fetus in a white plastic bag, put on them the charity’s name in Thai red script and Chinese characters and then arranged them in a row.
The Buddhist worshippers left offerings for the fetuses, bananas and milk, to nourish their souls in the afterlife.
Abortion is illegal in Thailand except for three special cases: when the woman was raped; if the fetus places the mother’s health in danger; if the fetus is abnormal.
Though their country has an entire sex industry, when it comes to sexual matters Thais are very conservative. As for the Buddhist worshippers, they strongly oppose legalizing abortion.
Thai PM said that more must be done to make sure illegal abortions are being prevented. He also said that the current government will not address the matter. He called the laws in force right now on the matter “flexible enough.”
Several people were already arrested for this: two undertakers, for hiding the bodies to conceal the cause of their death; a clinic employee, accused of operating an unlicensed medical facility and of performing abortions.
The undertakers could go to prison for up to a year and pay a $67 fine, while the clinic employee could face five years in prison and a $333 fine.
The officials stress that it is important that a better sexual education be implemented in the Thai society, so that this kind of things may not occur again.
