HANGZHOU - Police in East China's Zhejiang province on Thursday arrested the head of a rehabilitation center that allegedly beat and fed excrement to adolescents in its custody.

Teng Xiaohu, superintendent of a center for problematic children located in Pujiang county, has been arrested on suspicion of rape and child abuse, according to the county's publicity department.

Teng's apprehension came after a teenage girl escaped from the institute and reported to the police that she had been raped and mistreated, the department said.

Nine children between the ages of 13 and 18 had been sent to the center by their parents, who wished to cure their children's "rebellious, self-centered or Internet-obsessed" behavior.

The parents said they paid thousands of yuan in tuition for what the center billed as "character-building through ordeal and physical exercise," as well as "moral education and psychological counseling."

But children and local residents said the rehab center mainly relied on military-style training, with the children often punished for little or no reason.

"They hit us with electric batons and forced us to lick sh_t. The girls were forced to give massages to the drillmasters," said one of the children, using the pseudonym "Xiao Wu."

Local police have launched an investigation into the case.