SAMUT PRAKAN: A mother has filed a complaint with police against an unlicensed nursery in the central province after her 10-month-old son died in its care on Wednesday.
A photo of 10-month-old Nava at the funeral rite on Friday.
Varalee Sermchan, 34, talked to reporters about her case on Friday evening.
She said she had put her firstborn Nava in the daycare nursery in Sawasdee Village housing estate for six days since she had to work at a company in the Rama II area.
At 1.30pm on Wednesday, she received a call from someone from the nursery asking her to come immediately. At first, the caller did not tell her why but when she pressed, she told her Nava had stopped breathing.
When she and her husband rushed there, they found Nava lying lifeless on a mattress.
"He must have died several hours earlier as rigour mortis had begun to set in. But they didn't tell us or report to police sooner," Mrs Varalee said.
An initial investigation found the baby had died of circulatory failure about five hours before his mother was called.
The boy's caretaker claimed she had only learned about his death just before she called his mother.
Mrs Varalee said she did not believe the story, she pressed charges. She claimed her son had always been lively and strong.
She admitted she knew the nursery, operated in a townhouse, was not licensed.
"At first, they were very good. They took photos of my boy and sent them via Line a few times a day to let me know how he was doing. They told me Nava was easy to please and they were treating him like their own child so I didn't need to worry about him," she said.
Police said the nursery owner and the boy's caretaker could face charges of recklessly causing the death of another. If an autopsy shows he was killed, they would face first-degree murder charges.
A nursery is required by law to apply for a licence with the Social Development Human Security Ministry and comply with related regulations. Operating a nursery without a valid licence is liable to one year in jail and/or a fine not more than 10,000 baht.
