A mother accused of hacking her eight-year-old daughter to death with a knife because she refused to eat her food has been seized by the police.

Accused Ester Leonor Pineda de Orellana, 30, fled leaving her daughter’s mutilated body at the family home in Apopa, El Salvador.

She was seized on 11th January after making a phone call to her mother in the USA claiming that her daughter had choked on a piece of food.

The suspect had been turned in by another family member who called police to tell them what had happened to her child.

Now she is facing a charge of aggravated homicide, according to National Civil Police (PNC) spokesperson Mauricio Arriaza Chicas.

Her daughter – who was not named – was reportedly found with multiple knife wounds to her face and hands.

Local media reports that a preliminary police investigation has found that the girl died after refusing to eat her food.

Prosecutors said that the victim had “multiple injuries”.

They added: “The girl also has long-standing injuries as well as recent injuries, injuries that apparently were caused this week, but not this day, because it was obvious that they were not so recent […].”

An autopsy determined that the young girl had been dead for eight to 10 hours when the body was found.

The investigation is ongoing.