Police in Tokyo said Friday they have arrested a 37-year-old woman on suspicion of abusing her 4-year-old daughter by pressing a hot frying pan against her back and beating her about the head and face.

According to police, the incident occurred at around noon on Thursday at the family’s home in Takanawa, Sankei Shimbun reported. Police said the woman took a hot frying pan from the kitchen and pressed it against her daughter’s back in the living room. She also beat the girl’s face with her bare hands.

The girl’s 42-year-old father noticed her injuries when he returned home from work and called 119. The girl was taken to hospital where doctors said her injuries will take about six weeks to heal.

Police said the woman has admitted to abusing her daughter. She and her husband live with their two daughters aged 5 and 4 and a 3-year-old son.

Police said the family moved to Tokyo in the spring and that the father of the children told them that his wife had been mentally unstable since the birth of their 4-year-old daughter. He said that the children stayed at a welfare facility for a time for their protection, but they returned home in April.

© Japan Today