An Italian man arrested in Brazil on suspicion of paedophilia for kissing his eight-year-old daughter in public has been admitted to hospital suffering symptoms of stress, media reported yesterday.

The 48-year-old businessman was arrested a week ago while on vacation in the northern city of Fortaleza after an elderly Brazilian couple saw him kiss his daughter while they were both in a hotel pool.

The couple thought the kiss, on the girl's mouth, and other signs of affection were "inappropriate" and alerted police, according to reports on the news websites G1, O Globo and Zero Hora.

The man, who was not named, was detained under a tough new Brazilian law introduced in August designed to clamp down on the sexual abuse of minors.

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