Thiruvananthapuram | A woman and her male partner have been arrested in connection with the death of her one-and-a-half-year-old child from her first marriage in this district two days ago, police said on Sunday.

An officer at Nedumangad Police Station said that Akhila and her partner, Ashkar, had been arrested for allegedly subjecting the toddler, Arshid, to brutal abuse, leading to his death on May 29.

According to the police, a post-mortem examination revealed multiple injuries on the child's body, leading to the arrest of both the mother and her partner.

Police registered a case of unnatural death on Saturday.

In his statement to the police, Ashkar said that on May 29, at about 4.30 p.m, after having food and water and while lying down to sleep, Arshid suddenly started coughing.

He then vomited through his mouth and nose, and the food and water he had consumed came out. Following this, he became unconscious and weak.

Ashkar said he took the child by ambulance to a nearby hospital. From there, he was shifted to the SAT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.

Upon examination, doctors declared that the child had already died at around 6.08 pm.

The toddler's body reportedly bore numerous healed scars from earlier injuries.

Police launched an investigation after the toddler's grandparents raised suspicions that the child's mother and her partner were responsible for his injuries.

A police officer said that the child's father had died before he was born.

The child's maternal grandmother told a television channel on Saturday that there were several injuries all over the toddler's body.

"He had no injuries when he was taken from my home by my daughter," the grandmother tearfully claimed.

She also said that, on an earlier occasion, both of the child's arms had been broken in what her daughter claimed was a fall. Doubting that explanation, she lodged a complaint with the police.

"Subsequently, at the insistence of her partner, my daughter submitted a complaint to a DySP alleging that I was interfering in their affairs," the grandmother claimed.

The child's paternal and maternal grandfathers alleged that there were circular burn marks all over the toddler's body, which appeared to have been caused by cigarettes.

"There is no part of the child's body that was not injured," the maternal grandfather said.