Seberang Perai Tengah district police chief, ACP Rusli Mohd Noor said they received the report from a woman at 3.30pm yesterday informing that her neighbour's child had wounds all over her body from the abuse.
He said the woman also claimed to have heard the child crying and pleading for help from her mother's beatings.
"A police team went to the squatter area and found that the five-year-old girl was living in the house with her mother.
"The house is believed to have been rented by the mother's friend. The girl is an only child and her parents had divorced," he told Bernama, here, today.
Rusli said the initial check on the girl found her to have bruises and cuts on her back and left eyelid, two loose teeth and a scratch mark on her right thumb.
He said the victim was then sent to Seberang Jaya Hospital for treatment and she was reported to be in stable condition, while her 41-year-old mother who was present during the police visit, was detained.
"The mother claimed that she beat her child for refusing to study and that she (mother) would be more abusive after taking drugs."
Rusli said the unemployed woman who was tested positive for drugs was being remanded to facilitate the investigation and the case was being investigated under Section 31(1) of the Child Act 2001.
Meanwhile, the neighbour who declined to be identified, said there had been no problem between the woman and her child but since last month, they often heard the little girl crying and screaming for help.
"Some residents tried to help but were scolded by the woman. Last night, I lost my patience and pitied the abused child, so I lodged a police report," said the neighbour, who is in her forties.
The neighbour said she felt relief after police came to the woman's house and arrested her while the child was taken to hospital for treatment.
"The girl was not allowed to go out and play or mix with other children in the neighbourhood. I was worried if I delayed in making a police report, it could be worse for her," she said.
