A Free State mother allegedly pinned her young daughter down while men raped the 11-year-old girl.

She now faces charges of rape and child abuse.

The department of social development yesterday said that it would approach the courts for full custody of the girl and her eight-year-old brother.

The mother, 33, and her husband, 43, were arrested on Friday after receiving a tip-off of alleged abuse of the children.

Police swooped into the Bloemspruit home and found the children, who were filthy and dirty, living in "appalling" and "very dirty conditions".

The mother allegedly sold her daughter off to clients and, during the act, she would assist them by holding the girl down while the men raped her.

The boy was found to have drugs in his system. It is unclear whether he was sexually abused, but both children had bruises on their bodies.

Police spokesman Constable Peter Kareli said: "That has not been ruled out. We are busy with investigations and we'll know once we have concluded [them] . We decided to take them to the hospital for examinations, and it was discovered that the girl had been raped multiple times."

Social development MEC Sisi Ntombela said she was shocked to learn that a parent may have subjected her own daughter to such abuse. "I heard about it this morning and I am absolutely shocked. To think that a mother, someone her children look to for protection, could have done something so cruel to her own children is really painful. I never thought that I would hear of such cruelty of children from their own mother," she said.

Ntombela said she would visit the children tomorrow and that they would try to get them into their care.

"We are going to try and take those children away from their parents. It is quite clear that their parents do not want them. Our responsibility is to ensure the safety of all our children."

The parents appeared in court yesterday were remanded in custody. The case was postponed to June 8 .