Toddler 'murders' shock Australia

The parents of twin toddlers whose emaciated bodies were found at their Australian home on Monday have been charged with murder and torture.

The Brisbane pair were first charged with neglect after the mother said the toddlers had starved to death.

But at a court hearing on Thursday prosecutors upgraded the charges, in a case which has horrified Australia.

The twins' bodies were found by their older sister, who had noticed a strong smell coming from their room.

Investigators now believe the 18-month-old twins had been dead at least a week before they were discovered.

Malnourished

They weighed only about 4kg (nearly 9lb) each - about the size of a newborn baby.

When asked how they died, the children's 30-year-old mother allegedly told police: "I don't think I fed them enough."

The lawyer for the father, 28, claimed he was not responsible for caring for the children and had not seen them since Christmas despite living in the same house, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Details of the case have shocked the Australian public, with the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper asking in a recent headline: "How could toddlers starve to death in suburbia?"

Police say they have heard allegations the children rarely left their room and were not often changed. Their mother allegedly said she did nothing when she first found they had died.

Meanwhile neighbours say they were not aware of the toddlers' existence.

Siblings 'traumatised'

The new charges against the pair - from neglect to murder and torture - carry possible life sentences.

The other children of the couple - aged three, four and five - are staying with their grandmother along with their 11-year-old sister.

The grandmother told reporters on Wednesday that the children were "very traumatised, but we are doing the best we can for them, just to know they are wanted and loved", AP said.

Their parents - who cannot be named for legal reasons - have been denied bail and remanded in custody until their next scheduled court appearance on 4 August.