In a case that shocked the local neighbourhood, a three-month-old baby boy has been found dead in a squalid flat while his mother was allegedly out partying in Brazil.
The infant’s corpse was found under a bed in a locked room in Itapevi in the state of São Paulo.
The room was inaccessible to three other young children also allegedly left alone in the filthy property.
The mother was said to have been out at a party at the time of the police raid, according to Diario de Goias.
The baby appeared to have died of starvation several weeks ago, local reports claimed.
The police entered the apartment after neighbors reported a foul odour coming from inside.
Officers were shocked to come across three children – aged 10, eight and three years – alone in the squalid home.
The children were unable to access the locked room where their sibling’s corpse was reportedly decomposing under the bed.
The police said the home was one of complete neglect and abandonment, with rubbish strewn about the dirty floors.
Neighbours told officers that she often left her children alone for days at a time to attend parties.
They also claimed that she prevented the children’s father from visiting them.
After being tracked down, the suspect left a statement at the police station and was later released on bail.
She faces charges of child abandonment, child mistreatment, concealment of a corpse, and homicide.
The authorities have yet to confirm the infant’s cause of death, but suspect he died of starvation. The investigation is ongoing.