A couple in Dam Doi district in the southernmost province of Ca Mau has been charged with abusing a 14-year-old boy who worked for them for nearly two years as a domestic helper.

Huynh Thanh Giang and his wife, Ma Ngoc Thom, will be prosecuted for damaging the health of Nguyen Hao Anh, whose body was said to be covered with multiple scars.

Giang has been in custody for two months while investigations were underway. Thom was allowed out on bail so she could care for her baby, according to district police chief Vo Van Chac.

The two confessed to beating the boy and throwing boiling water and chemicals on him, pressing an electric iron to his legs, and using pliers to break five of his teeth and pull his lips, Chac said, alleging they also locked up the boy – and even forced him to drink his own urine.

Dr Ho Thanh Phong from the Dam Doi District General Hospital said there were many wounds on the boy's body and it would take a long time for him to regain his health.

Forensic tests released on May 4 by Ca Mau police concluded that the boy had suffered injuries on over two-thirds of his body.

Anh was recuperating after nearly a week of treatment at the Dam Doi hospital, according to hospital deputy director Le Thi Thuy. The deputy director of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Nguyen Tuan Sinh, said the department would pay for the boy's treatment.

Ca Mau People's Committee vice chairman Pham Thanh Tuoi said the province had instructed police, the People's Procuracy and the People's Court to complete investigation and bring the case to trial as soon as possible.

Police also put two alleged accomplices, Lam Ly Huynh, 19, and Luu Van Khanh, 17, in temporary custody. Both were also employed by Thanh and his wife.

The victim's mother, Pham Thi Thoa, said she agreed to let Anh work on the accused's shrimp farm in Phu Hiep ward in Ngoc Chanh commune at a wage of 500,000 VND (26 USD) per month.

The Social Sponsor Centre said it would arrange adoption if the family requested it./.