A Thai housemaid has been reported to the police after allegedly pouring disinfectant into a baby’s milk bottle.
CCTV footage from cameras dotted around the family’s house appeared to show the cleaner, Usanee Palang-usa, unscrewing the lid of the half-full bottle, filling it with Dettol and returning it to the baby’s bedside on Boxing Day.
The boy’s mother, named as Yokey R in Thai media, uploaded footage of the incident to Facebook along with other clips showing the maid taking photographs of appliances and ornaments in her kitchen and living room.
The baby’s grandmother reportedly raised the alarm after noticing a “very strong” smell of disinfectant emanating from the bottle during a midday feed.
‘My heart is breaking’
Yokey tasted it and, confirming her mother’s suspicions, took her sleeping son Kirin immediately to hospital.
Yokey, a Chinese lecturer at Bangkok University, recounted in her Facebook post: “When I tried to taste it, it’s obvious. The smell of Dettol is strong. The taste is bitter and cold.
“I was shocked. I cried. I hurried to carry the sleeping Kirin to the hospital. My heart is breaking.
“I’m [so] afraid that my hands are shaking. And I blame myself for not being considerate.”
When Kirin’s father confronted Palang-usa, the cleaner reportedly claimed that she could not remember doing anything to the bottle.
However, Palang-usa later said she had wiped the bottle with a cleaning cloth and shortly afterwards fled the house, according to the mother’s version of events.
The mother later confirmed that Kirin was in a stable condition.
