A Merrick mother and her boyfriend were arrested Saturday for allegedly beating the woman?s 6-year-old son with a weight-lifting belt.

Police say the child was rescued by the couple?s landlord who heard the whipping sound of a belt and the boy?s pleas for help.

When police responded to the landlord?s 911 call, no one in the couple?s apartment came to the door. They returned a short time later with an Emergency Services Unit and forced the door down. Inside, they say they found the child with cuts and bruises covering his body.

?He had been whipped around his buttocks, his groin [and] his upper legs,? says Detective Lt. Kevin Smith.

The boy was treated for his injuries and is now in the care of a relative. The child?s mother, 29-year-old Jessica Muniz, and her live-in boyfriend, 31-year-old Anthony Badalamenti, remain in police custody.