A police official in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town said Tuesday that his staff had yet to verify reports of a beggar who allegedly poured acid on her 2-year-old son, and that he suspected they had been fabricated. Soum Chankea, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said he had met with three people who told him the woman had poured acid on the child in the hope that passersby would take pity on her and give her more money. All three claimed to have seen the wounds inflicted on the child, he said. But Um Sopha, the deputy police chief in Poipet, said he had launched an investigation into the case on Sunday, and that it had been fruitless. “I am not sure yet whether there really is a cruel mother who poured acid on her son or not,” he said. “I suspect that it is a rumour, but we will still keep investigating.” The first report came in about three weeks ago, and that witness said he had seen the woman begging at a market along the Thai border, Soum Chankea said. He speculated that the woman might have fled since then.