The police has denied the body of a two year-old boy who is believed to have died from abuse in Flat Paya Nahu, Sungai Petani, has been preserved in a drum, as reported in the local media.

Kuala Muda police chief, ACP Md Zukir Md Isa said police do not rule out the possibility that the male suspect who was also the boyfriend of the victim's mother, had put ice cubes in the drum before covering it with adhesive tape.

"It was based on the water in the drum. Investigation found no preservatives were used by the suspect," he said when contacted by Bernama, here Thursday.

Early yesterday morning, Kuala Muda police received a complaint that a four-year-old girl had been abused. Upon checking on the complaint, a police team stumbled upon the remains of the two-year-old boy in the drum.

The remains were found wrapped in a blanket and concealed in a drum in one of the rooms of the flat unit.

Md Zukir said when the investigation team opened the drum, they found that 60 per cent of the victim's body had decayed as a result of being kept there for two weeks.

Earlier, the victim's grandmother, believed to be in her 60s and two family members came to identify the body at about 4.30pm.

However, they managed to avoid the media representatives.--Bernama