Grandmother Seeks Justice After Infant Starves to Death in Bangkok
A grandmother in Bangkok appealed for justice after her one-year-two-month-old granddaughter was found dead from severe malnutrition, alleging the birth mother had starved the child. Police refused to accept a complaint, citing maternal custody rights, while neighbors reported a foul smell and discovered the infant's body had been dead for at least two days. The case has provoked public outrage over both the alleged neglect and the police response.
The grandmother said Baby Nilin had been loved and cared for since birth, she kept a detailed diary of the child's growth, feeding, and sleeping patterns, and felt capable of raising the girl happily, but lost her due to the suspected actions of the birth mother. The father had separated from the mother over a year ago; he had tried to contact her since December of the previous year without success, until Don Mueang police contacted him on October 1 to inform him of his daughter's death.
When the grandmother went to Don Mueang police station to file a complaint and request a thorough investigation into the cause of death, officers refused, saying they could only log a daily record because custody rights belong to the mother, who may do whatever she wishes with the child. This response sparked public skepticism about police conduct.
Additionally, the grandmother and father noted the mother’s hurry to conduct religious rites; originally planned to hold the corpse for chanting and cremation on Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at Don Mueang Temple, but she suddenly changed the plan, moving the body to Wat Weruwanaram (Wat Phai Kheo) and announcing she would perform a bathing rite then cremate immediately, raising suspicions of evidence tampering.
Nineteen-year-old Vachirakhan (surname withheld), the father of the deceased, said he and the mother had separated during her pregnancy; she lived with him until about six months after birth, when she asked to return to her own home to care for her ill mother, which he allowed. After she returned, he learned she had taken a new partner and tried to keep him from seeing the child. Initially, while the grandmother was ill at home, he could visit the baby normally, but after the grandmother was hospitalized, the mother blocked his access.
