Brazilian girl's parents arrested

Mr Nardoni says his daughter was killed by an intruder

Brazilian police have arrested the father and stepmother of a five-year-old girl thrown to her death from a sixth-floor window.

A judge said there was "material evidence" and "concrete indications" that the pair were responsible for the death of Isabella Nardoni on 29 March.

He said Alexandre Nardoni and Anna Carolina Jatoba, who deny murder, were arrested to "guarantee public order".

The case has shocked Brazil, and been the focus of intense media coverage.

Leaked evidence

Officers lined the streets and a crowd of onlookers gathered in front of the couple's apartment building as they were taken into custody.

Child death raises tough questions

Prosecutors, who will begin questioning the couple later this month, believe Ms Jatoba hit the girl on the head with a blunt object and strangled her.

They say Mr Nardoni then threw her out the window, and the girl died a few minutes after being discovered on the ground.

Police evidence leaked to the press suggests that blood was found in the apartment and there was a hole in the wire safety netting that covered the window.

Mr Nardoni, 29, says he believes that his daughter was killed by an intruder while he was helping his wife bring their other children from their car in the garage in the basement of the building.