Its minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said the Welfare Department would have to take the child under its wings until his next-of-kin could be found.

“This will be our last resort. However, we do still hope that she takes him back as the boy needs to be showered with love and care by his mother and family.

“But if she refuses him, then the Welfare Department will take him and he will be our child,” she told reporters after launching the International Women’s Federation of Commerce and Industry Malaysia, here, today.

On Monday, police recorded a statement from the boy’s father, a 45-year-old school van driver, who allegedly stripped his son naked then chained him at a stairway of his flat in Paya Terubong for five hours last weekend.

The man was released on police bail and referred to the deputy public prosecutor’s office for further action.

According to Rohani, the boy who is currently undergoing medical observation at Penang Hospital, will be temporarily placed under the Welfare Department until his mother is found.

“We have traced and located his mother and we are in the process of getting to her,” she said, adding that the boy’s mother was believed to have remarried and residing in Sabah.

On another matter, Rohani urged parents to keep a close watch and constantly be aware of the hidden danger of their teenage children’s vulnerability to sexual exploitation via the social media.

“If their children are quiet and locking themselves in the house, parents should not be proud of it but instead be worried. This is because we don’t know what’s happening behind the closed door of their room,” she said.

Yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said policr had set up the Child Cyber Sexual Investigation Task Force earler this month to deal with sexual exploitation of children via social media.

– BERNAMA