Chiang Rai: A man killed a two-month-old baby after the infant's mother refused to have sex with him, the police said on Monday.
Pol Capt Pichit Chuamuangphan, deputy chief of investigation at Wiang Kaen police station, said the police rushed to a house in Ban Huai Lang village in Tambon Tha Kham after they received a report about the murder of a child.
At the house, officers found the body of a two-month-old girl with a head wound on the ground floor of the house. The mother, identified only as Chanikan, 20, was crying in grief nearby.
Chanikan told investigators she was collecting clothes outside the house around 2.30pm on Sunday, when Lee Sae Yang, 40, a neighbour who lived across the road, suddenly grabbed her arm and demanded to have sex with her.
She said he threatened to kill her daughter, who was sleeping on a mattress inside the house, if she refused his demand.
Chanikan managed to break free and ran away, which prompted Mr Lee to walk into the house, grab her daughter by the legs, and slam her head against the floor, killing her instantly. After killing the baby, Mr Lee ran back to his own house.
Officers arrested Mr Lee at the house and took him in for questioning at Wiang Kaen police station. The suspect said he had a long-time crush on Chanikan and saw an opportunity to have sex with her that day while her husband was at work. The police have charged him with premeditated murder.