NONTHABURI: A young mother has been charged with murder after allegedly pushing her two-year-old son into a canal in Bang Bua Thong district.
The 21-year-old woman, whose name was withheld, was apprehended on Monday shortly after the body of her son was pulled from Khlong Tonnun canal in tambon Pimolrat, Thai media reported.
The boy, 2, had drowned at least three hours before his death was reported to police on Monday afternoon.
Bang Bua Thong police examined footage from closed-circuit television cameras nearby. A security camera at Sirarom housing estate captured a woman holding a boy's hand while crossing a bridge over the canal at around noon on Monday. Another CCTV showed the woman walking back alone half an hour later.
Police tracked down the woman and apprehended her in tambon Bang Bua Thong as she was waiting for a bus, apparently to evade arrest.
Under interrogation, she reportedly confessed that she had killed her son, saying she was under stress. She told police she was a company employee and had to take care of her child alone, having long since separated from her husband.
She initially put her son into the care of her grandmother and gave her money for expenses. But on several occasions when the two had argued, she said, the elderly woman brought her son to her workplace, causing her great stress.
The young mother was charged with murder and remanded in custody.