A HOMELESS orphan boy was tortured for 10 hours before being suffocated after he was wrongly accused of raping a five-year-old girl.

Three men and a woman - including the girl's parents - have been arrested after allegedly tying the 13-year-old boy to a chair, beating him with a hammer and stabbing him before suffocating him with a plastic bag and a cushion.

2 The three men and a woman wrongly believed the teenager had raped a five-year-old girl

A state prosecutor in Chile detailed the harrowing final hours of the youngster, who was an orphan who sold calendars at a bus station to make money for food.

Medical experts have examined the five-year-old girl and ruled out the suggestion she was raped.

The four people being held were named locally as Johana Mora Villagran, Pablo Morales Correa, Abraham Brava Palma and Victor Chanqueo Mora.

They were remanded in prison after the court hearing yesterday while the investigation continues into the horrific crime in Temuco, southern Chile.

2 The girl's parents are accused of suffocating the boy to death after he was tortured and beaten for 10 hours with a hammer Credit: @PJudicialChile

State prosecutor Roberto Garrido told the court that two of the men allegedly tracked the boy down and took him to a property belonging to another of the suspects before tying him up and assaulting him.

He said the torture continued when the property owner arrived with the female suspect.

The youngster is said to have been killed around 5am on Monday - some 10 hours after his ordeal began.

The pair accused of suffocating him to death are believed to be the five-year-old’s parents.

Mr Garrido said: “One of the suspects facilitated the place where the boy was assaulted and others actively participated in the aggression.

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“The parents of the girl killed him. But there was a joint action here, a joint will to assault this boy.

“But there was a joint action here, a joint will to assault this boy.”

The youngster, who slept on and off at a children’s home, suffered multiple injuries including several broken bones.

His body was found under a bed covered with a blanket hours after he was killed.

Local police chief Victor Ruiz said all four detainees had confessed.

He said: “From statements we have taken and an examination of the scene, we believe the body had been hidden with the idea of disposing of over the following hours, but they didn’t have time to carry it out.”

Local reports said the boy was targeted after the five-year-old’s older sister told her parents she had been sexually assaulted by him.

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