The Appeal Court in the restive Deep South of Thailand has dismissed murder charges against two paramilitary officers one of whom confessed of killing three children in early 2014.  

According to Wartani News, on Monday, 7 September 2015, the court of appeal of the Deep Southern province of Narathiwat dismissed murder charges against Maming Binmana, 22, and Sakuera Jesae, 25, former rangers who were accused of murdering three children of Maman family, including, injuring their parents with AKA 16 assault rifles and pistols.

The three children killed are Muyahed Maman, 11, Bahari Maman, 9, and Ilyas Maman, 6 years-old. Padeela Mamaa, the mother of the three who was then four months pregnant, was severely injured while the father, Jaemu Maman, was also injured from the shooting.  

The family of five were attacked by gunmen at their home in Parakapaeroa Village, Palukasamoa sub-district, Bacho District, of Narathiwat during the night of 3 February 2014.

Shortly after the killing, the police officers arrested Maming and Sakuera, who were then paramilitary officers in the province as suspects of the murder.  

During the interrogation, Maming confessed of killing the three children with Sakuera, an accomplisher, for vengeance.

He alleged that Jaemu, the father of the three children killed, in August 2013 murdered Abdulloh Binmana and Rorkiyoa Srarawo, his brother and sister-in-law, because his brother testified on a case in which Jaemu was accused of killing the village chief of Ban Nai Village in Mai Kaen District of Pattani Province.

Maming added that his sister-in-law was also pregnant when she was killed along with his brother. The murder allegation of killing the village chief against Jaemu was later dropped because of the lack of evidence on the case.

Despite the fact that Maming confessed of killing the three children, Narathiwat Provincial Court on 26 January 2015 dismissed charges against him and the accomplisher, reasoning that no concrete evidence could prove that the two are guilty and that Padeela, the mother of the three children, could not remember the appearances of the gunmen.

Maming and Sakuera have now been dismissed from the paramilitary unit in the province. They remained under custody for about 11 months after their arrest.

After the provincial court dismissed the case against the two in January, the prosecutors on the case submitted a request to appeal the verdict. However, the Appeal Court confirmed the ruling of the provincial court made earlier.