Believed to be the uncle, a man has been detained for a prank that went wrong, trapping a young boy in a washing machine while the child’s mother will be investigated for giving false information to police.
A 27-year-old relative of a three-year-old boy who was trapped in a washing machine at a launderette here on Tuesday was arrested today after police investigations revealed that the victim had not ended up in the machine on his own but was deliberately put inside.
It is learnt that investigators were initially fed with false information that the child had strayed away from his 25-year-old mother while she was busy loading clothes into a washing machine before ending up trapped.
When investigations were thoroughly conducted, it was revealed that the housewife had gone to the launderette accompanied by her older brother, the victim and his sibling.
Hulu Selangor police chief Supt Lim Bak Phai said while waiting for the clothes to be washed, she spotted the suspect playing a prank on the boy by placing him into a washing machine before closing the door.
He said moments later, the suspect was unable to open the door when he tried to remove the child from the machine.
Lim said the suspect was remanded for four days from today to help in the probe.
He said the child’s mother will also be investigated for giving false information to the police under Section 182 or the Penal Code.
A footage of the incident that went viral in the social media on Tuesday showed staff of a restaurant next door rushing to the child’s aid and using a hammer to smash the glass panel of the washing machine door before pulling the boy out to safety.
The child was reunited with his sobbing mother who sighed in relief on seeing her son freed from the machine. – The Sun