GEORGE TOWN, Sept 23 — Penang police have arrested a woman and her boyfriend during a drug raid for allegedly abusing her five-year-old son.
North-east district police chief Asst Comm Che Zaimani Che Awang said the 29-year-old woman and her boyfriend aged 38 were arrested last Saturday after police found the boy covered in bruises during a drug raid.
He said Insp Mohd Yusoff Ramli from the district's narcotics department had been attempting to trace the 38-year-old man over a drug-related case and found him in a room inside a house on Jalan Jelutong.
“He noticed the boy had bruises on his body and appeared to have been abused, so he asked the boy what had happened and the boy said “daddy” and his mother often beat him,” Che Zaimani said.
He said investigations showed that the woman is the boy’s birth mother while the man is her boyfriend.
Both were arrested and the boy was sent to the hospital for a medical check-up.
The medical check-up revealed bruises on his left cheek, head, arms and legs as well as scabbing on his genitals.
“The X-ray didn’t reveal any serious injuries and the boy is warded in the Penang Hospital for observation,” he said.
Both the man and woman tested positive for methamphetamines.
The man had 12 previous drug-related cases while the woman has no previous convictions.
The police recorded statements from the victim and the doctor who treated him.
The case will be investigated under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Child Act 2001 for child abuse.
