Baby’s decomposing body found under mattress in squalid flat

Warning: contains details some readers may find distressing

The infant's corpse was found under a bed in a locked room in the flat after police raided the home in Brazil on March 22.

Three other children, aged 10, eight and three, were also found on their own in the property in Itapevi, local media Diario de Goias reports.

The baby's cause of death has not yet been confirmed but detectives suspect it died from starvation and had been dead for several weeks.

The decomposing body was found in the locked room which also had cotton wool stuffed in the keyhole to stop any of the other children getting in.

The mother was said to have been filmed dancing at a party the night before the police entered the home.

Neighbours had reported a foul smell coming from the home, prompting police to raid the property.

Cops said the home had fallen into filth and squalor, with pictures showing piles of rotting rubbish and dirty mattresses strewn across the flat.

The mum was not home when police stormed the flat, and neighbours said she would often leave her children alone for days at a time whilst she went out partying.

They also claimed she stopped their dad from visiting them.

Police eventually managed to locate her, and released her on bail after questioning.

She faces charges of child abandonment, child mistreatment, concealment of a corpse, and homicide.

The investigation is ongoing.

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