Thai police arrest Jordanian for throwing baby son into sea

BANGKOK - Thai police arrested a Jordanian man who confessed to murdering his one-year-old son by strapping the child into a stroller and pushing him into the Gulf of Thailand, the country's immigration head said Tuesday (March 12).

The alleged infanticide occurred in the seaside town of Pattaya, where 52-year-old Wael Nabil Salman Zureikat was holidaying with his wife and one-year-old son.

His arrest follows the discovery of the toddler's body on Monday by fishermen off Pattaya's main pier.

"Last night, he confessed that he tied his son to the stroller and pushed it into the sea," immigration head Lieutenant General Surachate Hakparn said at a press conference Tuesday.

The couple had checked into a guest house on March 6, and the boy was taken two days later by the father - who told his wife he was under the care of others.

His wife filed a complaint to the authorities, which led to the man's arrest.

"The father said he could not raise the boy and did not want to have children," Mr Surachate said. "It is a heartbreaking story."

The Jordanian will be charged under Section 289 of Thailand's penal code for "intentional killing" of a child.

If found guilty, the maximum punishment is the death penalty.