Horror as mum kills 5-year-old daughter by gouging out her eyes and eating her tongue

A mum has been arrested for killing her own five-year-old daughter by gouging out her eyes and then cutting out and eating her tongue.

Josimare Gomes da Silva, 30, was arrested after police were called to her home in Alagoas, Brazil on January 24 following the horrific ordeal.

The victim's grandfather reportedly saw blood running from the outside drain - and then broke into the bathroom where Josimare and her daughter, Brenda Carollyne Pereira da Silva were.

He found his granddaughter's lifeless body beside her mother - who was praying in a daze - and called the police.

The five-year-old's eyes were gouged out and her tongue had been cut off in the horrific ordeal.

Investigators believe that these injuries, inflicted with a pair of scissors while she was still alive, caused her death.

It has also been reported that Josimare, who was sedated and then taken to the police station in Delmiro Gouveia, Alagoas, had chewed on her daughter's amputated tongue.

The mum allegedly gave a statement to the police the following morning in a number of languages, including Spanish.

During the incoherent statement, she is said to have denied gouging out her daughter's eyes and putting her daughter's amputated tongue in her own mouth.

The suspect is known to suffer from mental health issues, including depression.

She is currently being held at a police station in Delmiro Gouveia and will be transferred to a women's prison in the state capital of Maceio as the case is investigated.