Two children have been charged with rape and attempted murder after a five-year-old girl was reportedly “scalped” in a brutal attack.

Police confirmed that a nine-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were arrested following the alleged incident in a field in Cleveland, Ohio.

The girl’s mum said her daughter was left “unrecognisable”. She said she dropped her daughter off at a family member’s home on September 13, the Mirror reports.

But the child somehow walked out of the front door and was allegedly attacked by a group of youngsters outside. Prosecutors in Cuyahoga County have said two children are facing charges including attempted murder, rape, felonious assault, kidnapping and strangulation.

The girl’s mum described the scene she witnessed as “unbelievable”. She said: “I literally saw the worst thing ever. I saw my daughter unrecognisable. I couldn’t wrap my head around it.”

She told Cleveland 19: "My daughter was not my daughter. Her hair was scalped from her head. She had bruises and blood all over her body.