maltreatment vs cruelty

maltreatment and cruelty both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
maltreatment	Yes	No	No	No
cruelty	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, cruelty is a hyponym of maltreatment; that is, cruelty is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than maltreatment:

Other hyponyms of maltreatment include child abuse, child neglect, persecution, inhuman treatment.

maltreatment (noun)	cruelty (noun)
cruel or inhumane treatment	a cruel act; a deliberate infliction of pain and suffering
	the quality of being cruel and causing tension or annoyance
	feelings of extreme heartlessness