11 July 2024

The mother of a missing 8-month-old baby boy has allegedly admitted that, in a panic, she dumped the baby into a canal near her home, after the baby accidentally fell from her arms onto the floor while being bathed a bath and suffered a “seizure”.

Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, the national deputy police chief, said this morning (Monday) that the 17-year-old mother, Nim, allegedly made the confession to police at midnight last night.

Nim had been questioned by the police for several consecutive days, each session lasting several hours, as police believe that she knows what happened to the baby, but was refusing to tell the truth.

Pol Gen Surachate said Nim claimed that she dumped her baby into the canal, which connects with the Tha Chin River, about 200 metres from her home in Bang Len district of Nakhon Pathom Province.

He said police believe her claim about dumping the baby into the canal, but doubt her story about the accident, adding that police in charge of the case will investigate whether he died before being dumped into the waterway.

Divers searched the canal yesterday, between 100 and 200 metres from Nim’s home, but found no traces of the missing baby.

Police say Nim’s claim is in line with testimonies from her neighbours, that they saw her on the way back from the canal to her home at about 5.30am on February 5th, when the baby was reported to have gone missing.

Nim’s partner, Pud, is currently being held on charges of procuring a minor for prostitution, by allegedly luring Nim to have sex with his friend, Jae, reportedly for money to support the family. He was also charged with depriving a minor, Nim, of parental care.

Jae is being held on charges of statutory rape and depriving a minor of parental care.