WASHINGTON DC, United States?A Brazilian two-year-old whose former stepfather subjected him to a ritualistic attack pushing 31 needles into the boy's body was recovering from surgery without complications Saturday.

Surgeons on Friday successfully removed four sewing needles near the boy's heart and lungs.

It was the first of a series of operations to remove needles that were inserted up and down the toddler's body, in what his former guardian confessed was part of his revenge on his ex-wife.

Doctors at Ana Nery Hospital in Salvador de Bahia, where the operation was carried out, said he was breathing on his own and has "progressed without any significant complications."

"His progress is very good... and the objects were removed safely, without affecting his heart or lungs," Roque Aras, the hospital's medical director, told local media.

The boy's former stepfather confessed to police Thursday to inserting the needles as part of "black magic" rituals aimed at exacting revenge on his ex-wife.

Police said Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, 30, had confessed to sticking two or three needles into the boy every day and said he was helped by two women who have denied the accusation but are under temporary arrest.

The boy, who has not been named because of his age, was rushed by helicopter on Thursday to Bahia's main city Salvador for emergency operations to remove the needles, although doctors said an infection near his heart prevented immediate surgery.

The boy's 38-year-old mother, Maria Souza Santos, was with her son. She first took him to a local hospital in Barreiras when one of the needles perforated his lung, causing him to vomit.

The metallic objects?some measuring up to five centimeters (two inches) in length?are dispersed throughout the child's body including his neck, torso, and legs.

Doctors earlier said they planned to remove the most dangerous of the needles, but others would have to remain inside the body because removing them would be too risky.

The village of Barreiras lies in Brazil's tropical northeast, a region heavily populated by the descendants of African slaves. It is known throughout Brazil as a center of religions and rites similar to voodoo practiced in Haiti and West Africa.