Bhubaneswar,  A nine-year-old boy has been allegedly branded with a hot iron rod in Odisha's Cuttack city by his uncle and aunt for "being stubborn", the police said on Saturday.

The child narrated the barbaric incident before his maternal grandparents during Durga Puja vacation. Following this, they lodged a complaint before Markatnagar police station in Cuttack on Saturday.

According to the complaint, the minor boy was staying with his uncle and aunt in CDA Sector-7 area of Cuttack. As the boy is little mischievous, they allegedly branded him with a hot iron rod, causing a deep mark in hands. The couple has also allegedly given mental and physical tortures to the boy.

Following the death of his mother in 2018, the boy was initially under the custodian of his maternal grandparents. His father abandoned the boy and married somewhere else, said Madan Mohan Rout, the grandfather of the victim.

Later, in April this year, his uncle (brother of the father) and aunt took the minor boy with them for his schooling. "And, this incident came to limelight now," he said.

"We request the police to immediately arrest his uncle and aunt... and the boy should stay with us till 18 years," said Rout.

However, Srutibala Sahu, the aunt of the minor boy, refuted the allegations and said the marks on his hands came up as he accidentally touched a hot pan in the kitchen.

The Markatnagar police have registered a case under different sections of IPC against the uncle and aunt, and started investigation into the incident.