Cape Town – A man has been arrested after allegedly severely assaulting his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son in Beaufort-West, Western Cape police said on Sunday.

The 28-year-old man was arrested on Saturday after a local community radio station appealed for help to find him, Captain Malcolm Pojie said.

This was after the man allegedly kept his girlfriend and her child captive in their home in Khanya Street, Mandela Square, on Thursday from the time they woke up until 14:45, when the woman escaped.

“Witness account by the mother reveals that the suspect slapped and kick[ed] the boy in the face, burned his feet with boiling water, put a cement brick on the boy’s chest and stamped his feet on it and also forced the boy to eat his own faeces,” Pojie said.

People outside the home heard the mother cry and one of them broke a window to get into the house and rescued the child. The man fled the scene.

“The child was transported to hospital by ambulance and immediately transferred to George hospital due to the severity of the injuries he sustained.

“The boy, who had undergone an emergency procedure at the George hospital, has shown satisfactory results although he is still in a serious condition.”

The arrested man would appear in court soon to face a charge of attempted murder.

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