A mum who tortured her 13-year-old daughter mercilessly for looking at her stepfather has been seized by police.

The brutalised teen, who was burned, beaten, and starved by her mum and her husband was found wandering confused in the Albertson’s grocery store car park, in Las Vegas, in the US state of Nevada.

The passerby who noticed her was reportedly leaving a bar when she saw the unnamed girl at around 8pm on Saturday, 16th September.

Police said that the desperately undernourished teen had cuts, burns, and scars all over her face and arms, when they found her at the 1100 block of Village Centre Circle.

One punishment, she told them, was to have her hand held down on a hot stove hob. Another was to hold her hand under a boiling hot tap.

The mother and her husband were arrested on Thursday, 26th October. Both have been charged with child abuse and neglect, as well as causing substantial bodily harm.

Sickenly the teen’s mother tried to justify the beatings with the bizarre claim that her daughter was trying to steal her husband.

A Las Vegas Metro Police Department affidavit said: “[The victim] stated she ran away from home because she was tired of getting punished.

“[Her] biological father passed away years ago and since then she has been punished on a regular basis for ‘doing the wrong thing’ or ‘staring.’

“[The victim’s] mother, Kacey, and stepfather, Edward, would slap her in the face for staring at them.

“[The victim] has been homeschooled since she was eight years old and does not have any friends.

“[The victim] does not like being at home because it makes her sad.”

When questioned by police, the girl’s mother admitted to beating the girl whenever she caught her staring at her husband.

She said she did it because the daughter “admitted to having a crush on Edward”.

Police continued in the affidavit: “I asked Kacey [Lilly] how that made her feel and she stated it bothered her to have another woman staring at her man; it made her want to attack.

“Kacey [Lilly] stated, ‘Hey, that’s mine, you know. Back the f*ck off, that’s mine.'”

The mum also claimed that her daughter would often listen to her and her husband having sex.

She said she did not know why the child was so skinny and claimed she could eat whatever she wanted but said she “likes to steal food”.

Heavily tattooed Edward Lilly told police he had never physically injured his step-daughter and called her “defiant”, claiming she never did what she was told.

The police document continued: “When asked about being punished, [the victim] stated she does not like having her hand on the stove.

“When asked why she thought [her mom] may have burned her, [the victim] stated [her mom] was mad at her for staring at Edward.”

She also said that her mum would hold her hand under hot water as punishment, while her stepfather would bet her as well, although not as hard as her mother.