Australian prosecutors are to bring criminal charges against the parents of 18-month-old twins who apparently starved to death in the family home in Brisbane.
The emaciated, decomposing bodies of the boy and girl were found in their cots by their 11-year-old sister 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 were charged with failing to provide necessities of life in Brisbane Magistrate's Court today. However the charges were later upgraded to 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 couple's remaining four children are being looked after by their grandparents.
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 around 4 kg (8.8 lb) when they died, around the weight of a normal newborn baby.