The case has aroused widespread outrage because of the brutal nature of the girl's injuries. It has also highlighted the prevalence of child labour, and exposed the huge divide between Lebanon's urban elite and its rural poor.

Christopher Hack: "The details of this case are very horrific"

Fatima Jassom was hired out as a housemaid last September. Her parents, who live in poverty in Lebanon's rural north, received the equivalent of $750 a year.

The accused couple took the girl from a notorious child labour market, saying they needed help looking after their own two-year-old daughter.

One month later they took Fatima to a hospital claiming she had been involved in a car accident.

Horrific injuries

Doctors found fractures, severe bruising and cigarette burns all over her body. The tip of one of her fingers had been severed and she had gangrene in her lower legs, which prosecutors will say was caused by her being chained up for long periods.

After several weeks in hospital, doctors managed to save Fatima's legs but had to amputate several toes.

The defendants - a 23-year-old law student and her 33-year-old husband - face up to 10 years in prison with hard labour if convicted.

Laws flouted

Like many countries in the Middle East, it is quite common for families in Lebanon to hire housemaids.

The elite tend to import workers from Sri Lanka and the Philippines, while those who are not so rich look to hire maids from poor rural families, who virtually sell their children into slavery.

It is illegal to employ children below the age of 14, but the law is routinely flouted because many rural families see it as one of the few ways to earn money.

The children - predominantly girls - are sold at a number of illegal markets. Middle men often take a fee of up to $200 to arrange a sale.

The government is said to be trying hard to end the practise, but face a difficult task because demand for such maids is so high and families in the area so poor.

The gap between the country's rich and the poor has grown since the end of the civil war when hashish cultivation was outlawed by the government.

A third of people living in rural areas are in absolute poverty, unable to provide enough food for themselves.

Outcry at child's plight

Fatima Jassom has recovered from her injuries and is back living with her parents. Local politicians have paid for her to attend school.

Her case has become notorious in Lebanon - capturing newspaper headlines and prompting an outcry from human rights groups.