Cops in South Korea investigating the case of a three-year-old girl who was left to starve to death at her home have arrested the child’s biological mother and sister.

The mortal remains of the youngster were found at a flat in the city of Gumi on 10th February and investigators believe she had passed away from starvation some six months earlier.

However, the story took a bizarre turn when DNA tests revealed in March that the girl’s apparent mother who was arrested, identified only by the name Kim, turned out to actually be the victim’s biological sister.

Investigators found that the victim’s apparent grandmother, Seok, 49, was actually her biological mother and had unloaded her newborn onto her eldest daughter for her to raise with her then-husband.

DNA testing also revealed that Seok’s husband was not the child’s biological father. The police are currently trying to work out the father’s identity.

The police believe that after Kim divorced her then-husband, Hong, in April last year, she abandoned her younger sister to her fate in her flat and went off to live with a new man.

To confuse matters further, local media also report that Kim had given birth to a child of her own at around the same time as her mother.

The alleged child’s whereabouts is unknown, and the police are currently searching for the youngster.

As the effective guardian of the toddler who died of starvation, Kim faces charges of child neglect.

Seok was arrested on 10th March and both suspects remain in preventive detention as the investigation continues.

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