Police in Jiujiang, East China's Jiangxi Province, have arrested a local resident after his two adopted daughters were found chained to a water pipe in an uncompleted building.

Baobao and Beibei, the two girls left chained to a water pipe in a building. Their adoptive father is being investigated for abuse. Photo: CFP

A spokesman from the local public security bureau surnamed Wang told the Global Times Thursday that a 30-year-old man surnamed Yang is under investigation for abuse.

People.com.cn reported Thursday that two four-year-old girls, nicknamed Baobao and Beibei, were found by a security guard on Tuesday chained in the kitchen of a building in Lushan district that was still under construction.

Their left wrists were shackled to a 1.5-meter iron chain that was connected to a water pipe.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the girls had been chained up in the kitchen for five to six days.

There is no water or electricity supply in the building.

The girls looked unkempt and were dressed in ragged clothes when they were found, the report said, adding that their bodies were full of mosquito bites.

Baobao was quoted as saying in the report that their adoptive father chained them up, and gave them a meal every night.

The girls did not disclose their real names or where they were from.

When the security guard tried to unlock the chain, the girls said they would be punished by Yang if they moved the chain.

Local police rescued the girls, and provided them a shower, new clothes and food.

The report said the police later arrested Yang at his home.

According to the criminal law, abuse of family members, including forced labor and limiting personal freedom, is an offence subject to seven years in prison.