NILAI (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A team of Malaysia immigration officials conducting checks to weed out illegals walked into a shocking sight at a block of flats in Taman Semarak near here - a severely malnourished and physically handicapped teenager locked in a unit.

The 15-year-old boy, who is also believed to be mentally challenged, was naked but for a tattered, soiled t-shirt and was covered in his own faeces and urine in one of the rooms of the unit.

The officers themselves were stunned. "Oh God! This is so cruel," said the officer who stumbled upon the boy.

The room was littered with broken polysterene boxes. While there was a wheelchair in the room, the teen could only move on his buttocks and could not use his legs.

Preliminary investigations revealed that he had been left there by his relatives as they could not care for him.

State Immigration director Faizal Fazri Othman said investigations revealed the teenager's name was Muhammad Firdaus Dullah and that he was of Bajau descent.

"When my officers found him, he only had a torn, soiled t-shirt on and his entire body was covered in faeces and urine.

"He was incredibly thin and we could see all the bones in his emaciated frame," he said, adding that the teenager was also unable to stand or sit on his own.

The teenager's limbs were also deformed, believed to have been caused by severe malnutrition.

Mr Faizal said the teenager also looked as he was only half his age due to his condition.

"The entire unit was also full of filth with used polystyrene packs scattered all over the place," he said, adding that his officers managed to find the teenager's birth certificate in the unit.

Faizal said his officers managed to contact the teenager's 39-year-old mother and that the case had been referred to the Welfare Department.

"We believe that the mother was employed as a helper at an eatery in Sepang.

"We have sent the teenager to the Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital for treatment," he added.