The accused Govindarajan came home in an inebriated condition last night, lifted his 8-year-old daughter by her ears while she was asleep and branded her cheeks with a hot iron string used in construction sites, they said.
His wife was away at work during the time of the incident.
On hearing the child's screams, neighbours rushed to the house and informed the mother, who came back home and took her daughter to the Pollachi Government Hospital.
The man is lodged in the central jail here, police added.