THAILAND: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR POISONING HER OWN CHILDREN

September 19, 2022:

Thailand’s Criminal Court sentenced a woman to death on 15 September 2022 after finding her guilty of poisoning her own 2-year-old son and 4-year-old adopted daughter with an abrasive substance, to make them sick so she could appeal to the public for donations on social media to help the sick children.
The 29-year-old single mother, identified as Nittha, aka “Mae Pook”, was charged with attempted murder, human trafficking, assault causing serious injury, assault causing the death of another person, defrauding the public and violations of the Computer Crime Act.
The case dates back four years, when the woman took her 4-year-old daughter to Thammasat University Hospital for medical treatment after she developed acute stomachache and began vomiting blood.
According to doctors at the hospital, the female patient was treated seven times over a period of about eight months, being discharged each time after recovery, until she died on 12 August 2019 due to complications from internal haemorrhaging.
The 2-year-old boy, who was confirmed to be the woman’s biological son using DNA tests, was also treated at the hospital for similar symptoms from January to May 2020. Doctors became suspicious that the boy’s condition might have been intentionally induced.
Doctors said that, as the condition of the child improved, he was transferred from the intensive care unit to a special ward, but his condition subsequently deteriorated again and this pattern was repeated.
Doctors then forbade the mother from bringing food to the hospital to feed the patient and restricted her visits. Medical staff would remain with her during the visits as an investigation was carried out, until they were convinced that the boy’s sickness was caused by an abrasive substance.
According to the prosecutor’s charge sheet, the woman posted the image of her sick children on her Facebook page and asked for public donations while offering products for sale online, purportedly to cover her medical expenses.
The court found her guilty on all charges and sentenced her to death without commuting the penalty, despite her confession.