Father, girlfriend detained for abusing seven-year-old

Malacca CID chief ACP Raja Shahrom Raja Abdullah said, based on the old and new injuries found on the child, there was reason to believe the child had been repeatedly abused by the suspects.

Raja Shahrom said police were alerted of the abuse when Hanisah Abdullah, 55, the house owner where the couple and the child stayed, lodged a police report at the Tanjung Minyak police station at 6.05pm on Sept 30.

"The woman, who is also the adopted grandmother of the abused child claimed that the child was beaten with a rubber hose, shirt hanger, belt, punched and her head knocked against the wall," he told reporters, here Sunday.

He said following the incident the father of the child, aged 36, and his girlfriend, 31, were detained to assist investigations.

The suspect, who worked as a security guard at a biscuit factory in Batu Berendam, would be remanded for six days while his girlfriend was released on police bail because she has a two-year-old child to feed.

Raja Shahrom said the abused child was receiving treatment at the Melaka Hospital.

Hanisah said when the couple first arrived at her house in July, the abused child had a fractured hand that was bandaged, apparently after falling from the stairways of their previous rented house in Masai, Johor.