A three-month-old baby in South Africa has been eaten alive by giant rats after her mother left her alone to go on a drinking binge.

The baby girl died in the Katlehong township in Johannesburg, after her mother left her unattended for the entire night, reports the Khaleej Times Africa.

The 26-year-old mother was arrested for child neglect when she returned to the shack in the early hours to find the remains of her child in a blood-stained bed.

The baby girl’s twin brother, named Lucky, was spared a similar grisly fate as he had been taken along on the drinking binge.

Describing the horror, a neighbour said: “The baby could only have died a painful death. The infant’s tongue, eyes and fingers had all been eaten.

Giant rats are a plague in South African townships and have killed young children. (Photo: Getty)

“Besides the missing body parts, the remains of her body had bites and wounds all over that were inflicted by the sharp teeth of the rats. This woman must rot in jail.”

Giant rats, some growing up to a metre long, are a major problem for the poverty stricken townships in South African cities.

In 2011, two baby girls were killed and eaten in separate attacks in squalid townships, reports the Khaleej Times.

Lunathi Dwadwa, 3, was killed in a shack outside Cape Town as she slept on the floor beside her parents.

Another infant was eaten alive in a shack in Soweto while her mum was out with friends.