A three-year old boy subjected to brutal treatment by his 'drunkard' step-father for nearly a month was rescued and hospitalised here and the man and the child's mother arrested on Saturday following intervention by neighbours, police said.
The boy with injury marks all over his body, including in private parts, has been admitted to the medical college hospital, they said.
"He (the boy) said he was afraid to go back home. We have formally informed the child-line officials. They will take custody of the kid," the investigating officer told PTI.
Police said 38-year old Vyshakh and his wife were arrested from their house in nearby Ambalapuzha, where they had shifted a week ago, after the neighbours informed the police on hearing cries of the child on Saturday morning.
Vyshakh, who had been beating up the child under the influence of liquor, was the third husband of the woman and the boy was born to her and her second husband.
According to police, the brutality meted out to the boy was first noticed by the sister of Vyshakh recently when she had taken him to her home for a day.
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However, the family members did not confront Vyshakh as they were afraid of him because he was a drunkard. Instead the sister had had asked the neighbours to keep an eye on the boy, police said.
Today morning, the boy was crying uncontrollably when the locals intervened and called the police.
The neighbours said they had heard the cries of the boy earlier also, but took it as normal occurrence.
Vyshakh tried to escape when the police came, but they caught him. His wife was also arrested as she had remained a mute spectator to the brutality inflicted on the child, police said adding investigations were on.
The father of the boy had been informed, they said.
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