Tawau police chief Peter Umbuas said the Indonesian man was arrested at 7am today, and they also seized a machete measuring 31cm believed to have been used by the suspect to threaten his children.

“The suspect, in his 20s, has been remanded for 14 days starting today to assist in the investigation while the two children, aged three and five, were referred to the Tawau General Hospital for medical examination and treatment,” he told a press conference.

Peter said it was suspected that the motive for the incident stemmed from marital problems with his 19-year-old wife.

Peter said police detained the suspect after receiving a complaint from the public yesterday regarding a video of the abuse of two children, a boy and girl, which went viral on social media.

“The complainant who works at Ladang Giram Ulu Balung Division claimed to have seen two videos of the abuse, lasting 26 seconds and 16 seconds respectively.

“In the video recording, the suspect, who is also the biological father of the victims, could be seen stepping several times on the children’s legs, abdomen and neck,” he said and added that the dates and times of the incident were still under investigation by the police.