On Monday, Thai police arrested a Jordanian tourist who killed his 18-month-old son while holidaying in the country with his wife, The Nation reported.
Now identified as Wael Nabil Salman Zureikat, the 52-year-old father was detained at Suvarnabhumi Airport while attempting to escape the country. His wife was not with him at the time and is not a suspect in the incident.
An immigration official said airport officers noticed the man was acting suspiciously while waiting for his flight back to Jordan and so detained him for questioning.
After bring him in for an overnight interrogation, the defendant broke down and confessed to murdering the toddler by tying him to a stroller and pushing him into the sea.
A day before the father's arrest, his 24-year-old wife filed a complaint with the police, stating her son had gone missing. She told officers she suspected her husband had taken the child.
Just hours before the defendant was found at the airport, a speedboat captain discovered the young boy's body floating in the sea. He then notified authorities, who immediately arrived at the scene.
An autopsy revealed the child might have been dead for a few days before he was found; there were no bruises on his body and he had died of drowning.
After looking into the case, officials were led to Suvarnabhumi Airport, where they found the victim's father detained. During his interrogation, the man explained that the pressure of raising a child stressed him out and led him to commit the murder.
He stated that his spouse had previously promised him "that if they had a child she would take responsibility for looking after the baby." But when the couple came to Thailand on holiday, all she wanted to do was go out in town "all night and leave him alone with their child."
Angered by the fact that his much younger wife wasn't taking care of their son, the man decided to murder him. He told investigators he took the baby to Bali Hai pier in Pattaya, threw him into the sea, and then attempted to flee the country alone.
Speaking to local media outlets, Pol Lt-Colonel Piyapong Ainsarn, an inspector in Pattaya's tourist police, alluded to the fact that financial pressure might have also contributed to the man's breakdown.
"He killed his son, while his wife knew nothing of it. He [said he] was worried he may not have had enough money to raise his child. His wife is now grieving. She had never imagined that her husband would kill their own child in such a cold-blooded manner," Ainsarn said.
Zureikat has been charged with premeditated murder
Thai police have now charged the Jordanian man with premeditated murder.
He's set to be prosecuted in Thailand and will not be allowed to return to his home country until he serves the sentence he's to receive in a Thai court.
According to Gulf News, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Amman said Jordanian officials were following the case. He explained that they're "coordinating with the competent authorities in Jordan and Thailand to uncover all details about the incident."
The official also added that the deceased child will be buried in Thailand based on a request from his family.