A couple in Brazil have been arrested after they plucked the baby out of an eight-month pregnant woman’s stomach.

Mara Cristiana da Silva’s body was found tied to a tree with her stomach cut open in Joao Pinheiro, southeast Brazil.

The woman accused of her murder, Angelina Rodrigues, ‘always dreamed of having a baby girl’, according to a relative.

Mara Cristiana da Silva’s body was found tied to a tree with her stomach cut open

Staff became suspicious after seeing that the ‘agitated’ 40-year-old was walking normally and was refusing to undergo medical checks.

Following the discovery of Ms Da Silva’s body police arrested Rodrigues, along with her husband Roberto Gomes da Silva.

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Rodrigues later confessed to getting the woman drunk before tying her to a tree with metal wire and cutting the baby from her womb, according to police.

Despite claiming in her confession that her husband Gomes da Silva didn’t participate in the crime, police doubted that she could have committed the act alone, according to a spokesman.

He said: ‘We believe that the husband and a third person took part, but all this will depend on a police investigation.

The woman accused of her murder, Angelina Rodrigues, ‘always dreamed of having a baby girl’, according to a relative

She was eight months pregnant when she was killed and had her baby plucked from her body

‘Tests show that Angelina isn’t pregnant and we believe the crime was premeditated.’

The victim’s aunt, Euza Ribeiro, told Brazil’s G1 website that Ferreira became close to Ms Da Silva after discovering that she was pregnant with a girl.

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She said: ‘The woman always dreamed of having a baby girl, and when she saw that my niece was pregnant she began to offer help.

‘She lent her money to have her ultra-sound scan and the day she died had told her she was going to buy all the things that the baby needed.’

Ferreira had also reportedly moved in to the victim’s home on Saturday.

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According to police, Ms Da Silva’s body was found tied to a tree with barbed wire around her neck, and a cut in her belly where they believe the baby was removed.

The baby is being cared for at the Sao Lucas hospital in Patos de Minas, where she is being treated for a cut to her head believed to be as a result of being cut from her mother’s womb.