N.Y. Authorities Rescue Severely Abused 8-Year-Old

NEW YORK —  An 8-year-old girl was handcuffed to bathtub faucets, beaten with a hammer, burned with scalding water and denied food for days as punishment for a voracious appetite, authorities said.

The girl was found Friday night in a closet at her family’s Bronx apartment after her grandmother told housing police: “I can’t lie anymore,” Officer Virginia Grimm said.

“From head to toe, she was entirely covered with scars, burns, bruises, lacerations, swelling,” Grimm said. “Her wrists were swollen, her stomach was swollen, there was obvious malnutrition. The grandmother said the child was fed only once every two weeks.”

The grandmother said the beatings began four years ago as punishment for a voracious appetite that drove the girl to steal food, Grimm said.

The girl’s mother, Marilyn Carter, 35, and John Medina, 31, who also lived in the apartment, were arrested and charged with attempted murder and endangering the welfare of a child.

The girl was taken to Lincoln Hospital, where she was in stable condition Sunday, said hospital administrator Clark Griggsby.