A mum and her boyfriend in Florida have been arrested for starving her five-year-old daughter and locking her in a cupboard for 25 days with nothing but a bucket to use as a toilet.

The mother has been named as Alexandra Ebey, aged 37, and her boyfriend has been named as Kenneth Trout, aged 38. Both were arrested in late December and charged with child neglect with great bodily harm, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in the south-eastern US state.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said in a report that the girl, 5, was found in a “weak and emaciated” state and that she had open wounds all over her body. The authorities also said that she had “parts of skin falling off of her body” when they removed her from the residence.

The mother denied that her daughter had been suffering from abuse, claiming instead that she had injured herself while playing.

The girl, who has not been named, was taken to the Wolfson Children’s Hospital for treatment and to fix her malnourishment.

The girl is alleged to have told police at the hospital that she was “handcuffed and tied” inside the cupboard and that she was forced to urinate and defecate in a bucket.

The girl’s siblings reportedly said she was harshly punished when she would eat directly from a peanut butter jar, for example.

The siblings, who have not been named, were placed with their grandparents, and the young girl was released from hospital on Friday 7th January.