BAGAN SERAI: A couple was arrested by the police on Thursday on suspicion of abusing a six-year-old boy at Ladang Kalumpang here.
Police also seized several tools believed to have been used as weapons during the abuse, along with three bottles of ketum juice, when they arrested the 47-year-old man and his wife at 5.30pm.
Kerian district police chief Superintendent Juna Yusoff said the male suspect and his wife, 33, are the boy's biological father and stepmother.
Juna said the couple was arrested following a report lodged against them over the case.
"The boy was taken to the Taiping Hospital for treatment and medical examination which confirmed that he sustained injuries to the face, hands, abdomen, both arms, legs, and thighs as a result of being assaulted.
"The boy is in stable condition and receiving treatment at the hospital," Juna said in a statement.
Both suspects have been remanded from Oct 10 until Oct 14 to facilitate investigation into the case Section 31(1)(a) of the Childs Act 2001 for ill-treatment, neglect, abandonment or exposure of children as well as Section 30(3) of the Poisons Act 1952 for misuse of ketum.