In a shocking case of child abuse from Hyderabad, a toddler has been rescued with severe burn injuries on her body. The 4-year-old girl was allegedly made to sit on a hot pan and tortured by her own mother and stepfather, who then tried to abandon her at a police station.

M Lalitha and Y Prakash work as a cook and watchman respectively at a hostel in Hyderabad’s SR Nagar, according to PTI.

Speaking to PTI, SR Nagar Police Inspector Md Waheeduddin said, "The girl is from Lalitha's first marriage. She seems to have left or divorced her first husband and married Prakash. The girl was found with burn injuries on her body after her mother allegedly made her sit on a frying pan. The burn injuries seem to be from around 4-5 days ago.”

The torture was actually discovered when the couple took the child to Bharosa, a support centre for the protection of women and children by the Hyderabad Police, pretending to have found the child abandoned, reported Times Now.

According to ABN, neighbours heard the baby scream while Lalitha was torturing the child, and warned her. She took the baby to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, and then to the police station, where they said that they found the baby abandoned at the Railway Station.

According to a report in Deccan Herald, the staff at the Bharosa centre alerted the Gopalapuram Police Station, who in turn handed the case over to the SR Nagar Police Station.

Suspicious, the police launched a preliminary investigation, where it was discovered that the child was Lalitha’s.

A case has been registered against the two under relevant provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act and under IPC section 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means). The police have arrested the couple.

Speaking to TNM, G Ajay Kumar SI (Admin), SR Nagar said, "We are investigating further to understand what led the mother to resort to such a brutal act. Given the age of the baby, we can't draw any conclusion.”

The girl is now at Sishu Vihar in Hyderabad.