Kangar police chief Yusharifuddin Yusop said the 37-year-old man and 27-year-old woman were arrested at about 11pm yesterday and had been remanded for four days starting today.

He said the boy told his grandfather, who lodged a police report on Sunday, that he was pinched on the right thigh, slapped on the head, hit with a stone on the left side of his chest, pricked with a needle on his left arm and choked by his mother and stepfather.

“An examination at Tuanku Fauziah Hospital by the doctor on duty found no bruises or swelling on any part of the victim’s body except for a mark consistent with a prick by a needle or small sharp object on his left arm.

“The victim is being treated at the hospital,” he said in a statement.

Yusharifuddin said the child reportedly told his grandfather about the abuse on Friday at about 9pm, saying that it had occurred at his mother’s house in Simpang Empat.

The case is being investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.