Police are investigating whether a chemical confiscated from the house of a mother accused of forcing her two-year-old son to swallow bleach is the same substance found by doctors in the boy's system.
"We need to find out whether this substance is the same one that caused the boy's grave illness and injury," said Pol Lt Col Natthaphong Koetiam, deputy chief of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD)'s subdivision 4 on Sunday told a press briefing.
"Apparently, the boy swallowed a liquid that burned his lips and damaged his digestive tract. A medical report found the boy is not suffering from a genetic disorder as claimed by his mother," he said.
Nittha Wongwan, 29, dubbed by the media as the "bleach mum" was arrested early last week after being accused of deliberately making her son ill so as to swindle donations from sympathetic good samaritans.
After the boy was rescued and placed under the care of a shelter for children in the province, police found the suspect had used images and video clips of her son to get people to purchase her face masks so she could pay for his medical bills.
Police traced her bank accounts and found she had received over 10 million baht. "The amount that she earned bears no relation to the actual cost of her son's medical bills," Pol Lt Col Natthaphong said, adding Ms Nittha had admitted to online fraud but denied a charge of attempted murder.
He said police are also conducting DNA tests on Ms Nittha and her son as they investigate the possibility they are not related and that she might be involved in human trafficking.
Suspicions were raised after it was found out the suspect had earlier adopted a four-year-old girl who had died from similar symptoms after she had also asked people on that occasion to buy her goods so she could pay for medical treatment.