AUSTRALIA:AUSTRALIAN PROSECUTORS yesterday upgraded criminal charges against the parents of 18-month-old twins who apparently starved to death.
The emaciated, decomposing bodies of the boy and girl were found in their cots by their 11-year-old sister in the family's home in the Queensland state capital of Brisbane on Monday. Police said the toddlers had been dead for up to nine days.
The 28-year-old father and 30-year-old mother of the two children faced Brisbane magistrate's court charged with failing to provide necessities of life. But prosecutors later upgraded the charges to also include two counts of murder and torture. The couple were denied bail and were remanded in police custody until their next court appearance on August 4th.
The case has shocked the country and sparked calls for Australians to build a stronger sense of community, to allow neighbours to be more aware of problems with children in their neighbourhood.
The twins' sister found the bodies of the toddlers on Monday after noticing a strong smell coming from their room. She is now being looked after by her grandparents, along with her three brothers, aged three, four and five.
The children said they rarely saw the twins, who were reportedly kept in their room and rarely attended to for nappy changes and feeding.
Both twins weighed some 4kg (8.8lb) when they died, around the weight of a normal newborn baby.
Under Australian law, the dead children and their parents cannot be named, to protect the identities of other children in the family.