The teacher had earlier used a rotan to beat the 7-year-old boy. When she saw the marks left on his buttocks after the caning, she tried to “cover” it by applying a heated wok to the boy’s buttocks, The New Straits Times reported.

This resulted in the boy suffering from second degree burns.

The boy managed to escape the clutches of the tuition teacher and entered a neighbour’s house. The neighbour contacted the boy’s older sister and related the incident.

The sister later reported to police that her brother, who is in Primary One, had been abused by the female tuition teacher over a two-week period.

According to NST, the police report, lodged at about 8pm last night, states that the boy suffered second-degree burns and scalding after a wok and cups, soaked in hot water, were applied to his body in a bid by the teacher to remove severe rotan marks.

Images of the wounds and scars on the boy’s body made its way online and has since gone viral, with social media users outraged at the severity of the punishment and actions of the tuition teacher.

Johor Baru Utara district police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Taib Ahmad told the daily that the case is being investigated under the Child Act 2001, adding that a suspect was already in custody for investigation.