Ex-boxer admits beating tot to death
2-year-old was being naughty, he claims
A former boxer accused of punching his 2-year-old stepson to death at a house in Ubon Ratchathani, but who claimed the boy drowned, was arrested in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district on Wednesday night.
Jiran Pansuan, 24, admitted to having beaten young Rapheepat Salae on Saturday evening, police said.
He said he punched the boy in the stomach because his stepson was being naughty. He denied intending to kill the boy.
On discovering the boy was dead, he took his stepson’s body to a private hospital and told staff that the boy drowned.
However, a police officer informed about the death had suspicions and asked the hospital to perform an autopsy. This revealed the boy had pancreatic injuries and bleeding to the brain.
Investigators then sought and obtained a court warrant for Mr Jiran’s arrest, who in the meantime, fled to Bangkok to stay with a relative, police said.
Officers from Provincial Police Region 3 tracked him down and arrested him outside a townhouse in the Tha Raeng area of Bang Khen district, around 8.10pm on Wednesday.
Police said the boy’s mother Thidarat Somboon and his employer, Thanaphum Pholprasert, were earlier detained on suspicion of helping the suspect flee.
Mr Jiran was yesterday taken to Provincial Police Region 3’s headquarters in Nakhon Ratchasima.
At a media briefing, he said he took turns with the boy’s mother in caring for him. It was his turn to look after him on Saturday.
That evening, the boy slipped and fell in the bathroom and began crying loudly. He said he became angry because he wanted to sleep after spending time drinking with friends.
He said he punched the boy three times, causing the child to fall to the floor. On discovering he had died Mr Jiran said he immediately took the boy to hospital.
The suapect said he regretted his actions and intended to enter the monkhood as an act of atonement.
Pol Maj Gen Boonchan Nuansai, deputy commander of Provincial Police Region 3, said Mr Jiran is a former boxer and his punches were hard which caused the fatal injuries to the boy.