KOTTAYAM: Here's a tale of torture that will send shivers down your spine.

A five-year-old boy was fighting for life in a ventilator at a private hospital in Kumily in Idukki district on Tuesday after he was subjected to unimaginable physical torture allegedly by his own father and stepmother.

Shafeeq was admitted to the hospital on Monday afternoon with multiple burn marks on his body and fractured bones. As the police quizzed his parents on Tuesday, hospital authorities indicated that Shafeeq was on his last legs.

"It is almost over. The boy is brain dead," remarked a hospital employee.

Shafeeq was brought to the hospital in an unconscious state by his father Sherif (27) and stepmother Aleesha (26) on Monday afternoon. Initially they told the hospital authorities that the boy had suffered head injuries after falling from a ladder. However, upon detailed medical examination of the boy, the hospital authorities were shocked to find burn marks at many places on the body, scars on the skin caused by pinching, a deep wound on his head and a broken leg. His left leg below the knee was broken at two places. One fracture happened some time ago, while the second one a couple of days ago.

Shafeeq is the second of the two children from Sherif's first marriage. Aleesha too has a girl from her first marriage and a child from her second marriage with Sherif.

Sherif is a daily wage worker and has been staying in a rented house with his family at Onnam Mile in Kumily.

Chief minister Oommen Chandy has sought a report on the incident.

P G Gopalakrishnan, chairman of child welfare committee, said the condition of the boy was very bad. "The hospital authorities informed me after they had a sinking feeling. I informed the police who starting their probe against the boy's parents. They spoke to their neighbours and found that the boy was subjected to torture regularly," he said.

"The parents admitted to the cops about the torture," he added.

Childline has taken the responsibility of the boy. "Without the permission of Childline no one can take him," Gopalakrishnan said.

Kumily police said they have registered a case against the parents under Section 307.

The details of Shafeeq's trauma echo the story of Baby Falak, who died last year after being treated for serious physical abuse at Delhi's AIIMS hospital. Falak was found with a fractured skull and human bite marks on her body.