Kochi | A woman and her boyfriend were arrested for allegedly assaulting her 12-year-old son after he refused to sleep in another bedroom at Kaloor here, police said on Saturday.

According to police, the arrested are the 37-year-old mother and her boyfriend Siddharth Rajeev (24), a native of Vamanapuram, Thiruvananthapuram.

The woman, an employee of a central government firm who had separated from her husband, was living with her son in an apartment in Kaloor.

Rajeev, who runs a YouTube channel, had recently befriended her and started staying at the apartment, police said.

The incident occurred on Thursday when the boy, who usually slept with his mother, was asked to move to another bedroom, which he refused.

When the boy insisted on staying in the same room, Rajeev allegedly assaulted him.

Police said the child also said that his mother scratched him with her nails, causing injuries to his chest.

The boy's father, who came to know about the incident, reached the apartment and shifted the child to a hospital.

Police said they received information from the hospital, after which a team from Elamakkara police station reached the hospital and recorded the child's statement.

Based on the statement, a case was registered under section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (cruelty to a child), and sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), and 3(5) (criminal act by several persons with common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The mother and Rajeev were arrested on Friday.

They were later produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody on Saturday, police added.