Psych test for ‘bleach mum’

Police are looking to check the mental health of a woman who was taken into custody for allegedly poisoning her biological son with bleach and killing her adopted daughter, said a source in the police team investigating the case.

The source said investigators are planning to request the Corrections Hospital send psychologists to examine Nittha Wongwan, 29, for any mental health issues. Ms Nittha’s father has insisted his daughter suffers from a psychological ailment.

Ms Nittha stands accused of forcing her two-year-old son to swallow bleach to make him ill so she could elicit sympathy from social media users and scoop up 20 million baht in donations. She is also alleged to have killed a four-year-old girl she adopted while conducting a similar scheme.

Before her death, the girl exhibited similar symptoms to the two year-oldboy, said the Crime Suppression Police.

If Ms Nittha is confirmed to be mentally ill, the severity of her condition will be assessed, which will have a bearing on her punishment, a police source said. But the police who questioned her did not detect any signs of a psychological disorder, he said.

Pol Col Pathak Kwanna, a Crime Suppression Division superintendent, said Ms Nittha is believed to have acted alone. Friends of Ms Nittha’s family had given statements about the woman’s behaviour as a mother and her personal finances. Their statements have been useful, the superintendent said.

Police are also scrutinising five bank accounts used to receive the cash donations. The money had circulated in these accounts from 2018 to this year, said CSD chief Jirabhop Bhuridej.

Pol Col Pathak said the donations were wired in small amounts to the accounts before Ms Nittha gradually withdrew them.

Police are deepening the probe to see where Ms Nittha, who in 2018 was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud, had spent the money.