Man questioned over dead baby in backpack

A 35-year-old man is detained for questioning after the body of a dead newborn is found in his backpack in Bangkok's Lat Krabang district late Thursday night. (Photo by Poh Tek Tung rescue foundation)

A 35-year-old man was detained for questioning after police found the body of a one-day-old baby boy in a backpack he was carrying in Bangkok’s Lat Krabang district.

The man, whose name was not revealed, acted suspiciously when patrol police spotted him riding a motorcycle with a big black backpack on Soi Wat Larn Boon in Lat Krabang area late Thursday night.

The officers then stopped his bike for a search. When they opened his backpack, they found the body of a newborn inside, Pol Lt Col Thanongsak Loyha, deputy superintendent at Lat Krabang police station, said on Friday.

The man claimed the infant was his own son who died during childbirth. He said his wife had been seven months' pregnant and they could not afford prenatal care.

On Thursday evening, he woke up and learned that his wife already had given birth to a baby boy who died during the delivery, he claimed.

He said he was shocked and decided to bring the body to be buried somewhere. As he was riding the motorcycle to look for a burial site, he was stopped by police, he said.

Pol Lt Col Thanongsak said police have not yet pressed charges against the man since they had to send the body to the Forensic Medicine Institute at Police General Hospital to determine the cause of death first.

If there is a foul play in the infant's death, charges would be taken against those involved, said the Lat Krabang police station deputy chief.