A two-year-old boy in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has as many as 50 sewing needles inside his body, apparently stuck there one by one, a doctor treating him said Wednesday.

Brazilian media said the boy's ex-stepfather was detained.

Dr Luiz Cesar Soltoski told AP that surgeons hope to remove most of the needles - some as long as five cm - but those in the lungs will have to wait until the child's breathing improves.

Some needles cannot be removed as they are too close to vital organs or even inside organs, Soltoski said.

The boy's mother, a maid, took him to a hospital in the small northeastern city of Ibotirama last Thursday, saying he was complaining of pain.

Three days later, after X-rays revealed many of the needles, doctors moved him to a larger hospital in the nearby city of Barreiras.

The mother told police she didn't know how the needles got inside her son, whose name was not released because of his age.

But police Wednesday night detained an ex-stepfather of the boy who confessed, according to Brazil's Globo TV. It reported the man said he inserted the needles with the help of two women who were not identified.

The boy's father, Gessivaldo Alves, earlier told the newspaper A Tarde that he believed his son could have been a victim of a black magic ritual.

Alves reportedly said he visited the home where the boy was living and found unspecified items that could be used for black magic.

The police inspector in charge of the case, Helder Fernandes Santana, told the Agencia Estado news agency that a black magic ritual involving the boy was among the motives that police were pursuing and that officers were casting a wide net for suspects.

Santana did not answer his cell phone Wednesday night to comment on the Globo TV report about the detention and confession of the ex-stepfather.

No one answered the phone at the police station in Ibotirama.

The boy's doctor said he believed the needles were stuck into the child's body one by one.

"We think it could have only been by penetration because we found needles in the lung, the left leg and in different parts of the thorax. It couldn't have been by ingestion," Soltoski said.

Doctors found no signs of outside wounds on the boy. X-ray images carried by Brazilian Web sites clearly showed some of the needles inside his body.

The boy is in intensive care, but Soltoski said his condition has improved since he was admitted.
- AP

(Roberto Carlos Magalhaes - Inilah bapa "lahanat" yang mencucuk puluhan jarum ke dalam tubuh anaknya.)

[DC] A jailed Brazilian admitted in a television interview that he shoved nearly
three dozen sewing needles into his 2-year-old stepson because he wanted to kill
the boy to spite his wife.

Speaking from his cell, 30-year-old bricklayer Roberto Carlos Magalhaes told how he doped the child with wine mixed in water, then stuck needles into his body while his lover held the boy down.

"I did this two or three times a week during one month," Magalhaes said in an interview with Globo TV's "Fantastico" program Sunday from a jail in the northeastern state of Bahia.

The boy was too drunk from the wine mixture to cry while the needles were being pushed in, but he felt pain after the alcohol wore off, Magalhaes said.

"It was truly an unbearable suffering," he said. "It was to get back at the boy's mother. I thought the needles would work their way through his body and kill the boy. It was a way to
kill without anyone discovering."

But the pain led the toddler to complain to his mother, and on Dec. 10 she took him to a hospital where X-rays revealed about 30 needles lodged throughout his body.

But the pain led the toddler to complain to his mother, and on Dec. 10 she took him to a hospital
where X-rays revealed about 30 needles lodged throughout his body.

The boy underwent a five-hour operation in the northeastern city of Salvador on Friday to remove four rusty needles that most threatened his life, near his heart and in his lungs.

Doctors said Sunday the child was doing well and would likely undergo two more surgeries, the next one Wednesday at the earliest, to extract needles up to five meter-llong from his abdomen and spine.

Suzy Moreno, a spokeswoman for Hospital Ana Nery, said hundreds of people across Brazil had contacted the facility to inquire about the boy.

"Many people are coming by to bring Christmas presents," she said. "Many are also calling us to express their outrage... The support has been incredible."

Along with Magalhaes, police believe his lover, Angelina Ribeiro dos Santos, was also seeking revenge on Magalhaes' wife.

The bricklayer told detectives that dos Santos would enter into trances and give him commands to insert the needles, police inspector Helder Fernandes Santana said.

Magalhaes and dos Santos were both arrested, though no charges had been filed. They were taken to an undisclosed location for their own protection after a mob threw stones at the police station where they were being held.

Dos Santos is not believed to be a member of any religious or occult group, and authorities believe the pair came up with the idea on their own.

The boy's name is not being released because of his age.
- AP