Sounds barbaric enough a punishment for any human being?

That’s exactly what a father in Paya Terubong, Penang, did to his eight-year-old son, for being naughty, The Star Online reported today.

The boy was chained for five hours – between 10pm on Saturday and 3am on Sunday, and was also forced to relieve himself there.

A resident of the flats spotted the boy and took photographs and a video, which he then uploaded on Facebook.

The town’s Security and Development Committee chairman Frankie Kee came to know of the matter and confronted the father.

The man, in his 40s, initially refused to cooperate, but eventually relented when he was told what he had done amounted to child abuse, which is a criminal act.

He pleaded to Kee to not inform the authorities about the incident as he was a single father, and vowed never to repeat his cruel act.

However, according to neighbours, this was not the first time the man had resorted to such acts. He had previously threatened neighbours who tried to help the boy, according to the daily.