The father of a young boy has been arrested after police were alerted by the child’s mother to possible abuse, and found injuries on the seven-year-old’s head and hands.

Police said they received a call at around 9pm on Thursday from the mother, who suspected that her son had been “inappropriately treated” by his father, a 39-year-old man surnamed Leung.

Officers who arrived at their home on Wang Fung Street in Wong Tai Sin found injuries on the boy’s head and left hand. They said he was conscious as he was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for treatment.

“Following a preliminary investigation, it is suspected that the man had assaulted the boy with his hand inside the flat,” a police spokesman said, adding that Leung was arrested on suspicion of “ill-treatment or neglect by those in charge of a child or young person”.

The father was detained for investigation while the case was being handled by the Wong Tai Sin district crime investigation unit.

Sources familiar with the case said the boy sustained injuries to his cheeks and mouth and had vomited while being treated by emergency responders at the scene.