A woman admitted stealing a newborn baby from a hospital because she was afraid of telling her husband that she had a miscarriage.
Sriwaluck Akethamsatien, 27, lost her baby last month but did not want to disappoint her husband who ''was excited about becoming a a father''.
Instead, Sriwaluck said she continued pretending to be pregnant before visiting the hospital in Phang Nga, southern Thailand, to befriend a couple who had just welcomed a baby girl on Monday (December 9).
The woman - whose fuller figure masked the change in her pregnancy - told her husband she had gone to the hospital to give birth and would stay in overnight.
The following morning (December 10) she offered to help the family and picked up the baby to walk around the ward with it.
CCTV then captured her running away with the baby in her arms - using a hijab to conceal her face even though she is Buddhist and not Muslim.
Cameras showed her fleeing through the hospital corridor before climbing on the back of a motorcycle. She took the baby home to her delighted husband, who believed it was his daughter.
However, police traced the motorcycle license plates and found the rider Chatchai Thongchai, 50, whom they questioned him about the incident.
He said: "I did not know the woman but had just finished my appointment and was about to leave the hospital, when she asked for a lift to the bus terminal.
"I accepted because I felt sorry for her, she was carrying a newborn baby under her arm in the burning sun. She asked me to drop her half a mile away from the hospital."
Police later found a bag that Sriwaluck hadleft at the hospital, which contained a bus ticket for the station near her house.
Officers raided her house that night found her and the baby girl safe - with the doting husband shocked that the baby was not his.
Sriwaluck was arrested by the police that night. She allegedly confessed to the police that she stole the baby because she did want to tell her husband about her miscarriage as he really wanted to have a baby.
She said: "I was pregnant but had a miscarriage and I could not tell my husband because he wanted to have a baby so much.
"I kept on pretending to be pregnant then I told my husband that I will go to the hospital and stay there to give birth to the baby. I actually spent that time making friends with the family who had a baby girl.
"I took the baby after they trusted me to hold her and brought her home. My husband was glad because he thought it was his baby.
"I am not a Muslim, but by dressing in a Muslim outfit, I knew it would be harder for anyone to find me.''
Police Lieutenant Colonel Niphon Yanpisarn said that Sriwaluck faced up to five years in prison for kidnapping a child.
He said: "The suspect has admitted her actions. She could face three to five years in prison and be fined 6,000 to 30,000 THB (150 to 754 GBP), but it all depends on the legal process. We are consulting about how to progress the case.''
Hospital director Dr Surat Tantithaweeworakul said that normally the hospital had a security protocol but this was an unexpected case.
He said: "We consider safety to be a priority in this hospital as we used several CCTV cameras in the building and normally there were security guards patrolling all the times.
"However, in this case the woman came and made friends with the family first before she gained their trust and stole the baby.
"This case will help us improve the safety protocol to prevent this incident from happening again."
