TWO sisters, aged 11 and 13, were brought to the police station yesterday, claiming they escaped the home of relatives who held them against their will, while abusing and under-feeding them.

Since their escape three days ago, the girls have been staying with their mother in Chaguanas.

The elder child showed marks on her neck and her sister had bruises on her knees. They said the injuries were at the hands of three abusive relatives, who beat them with pieces of wood and struck them with bottles.

"This happened after she was dragged," said the children's mother who took them to San Fernando Police Station yesterday.

The children told reporters their father suffered from Parkinson's disease and died five years ago.

A year ago, they were taken by a 69-year-old woman and 76-year-old man living at a house in Penal, along with a 24-year-old male relative.

The elder child said she was forced to stop attending primary school more than a year ago and made to work at a relative's bar. The sisters said they were beaten and made to do housework.

"On Saturday evening, they sent us with watermelon skins to feed the ducks and I decided to run away and take my sister with me," the elder girl said.

It was a plan the 14-year-old said she had formulated a while ago after she had complained to her mother of the abuse they had been undergoing.

She said after they escaped, she stopped a car in Penal and was taken to San Fernando, where they then took a taxi to Chaguanas.

The girls were able to make contact with their mother.

"When they came by me, they said it was the first time in months they got good food. ... They were only getting stale food to eat," the mother said.

Reports made by both children are being investigated by officers of Freeport Police Station.

The woman from whom the children fled said she wanted them back since they had run away from the house.