A couple from Hlobane in Zululand are expected to appear in the local Magistrates' Court on Thursday for allegedly ill-treating and neglecting a little girl.
It is alleged that the 10-year-old child was left alone at the house when she went missing.
The suspects opened up a missing person report and the child was eventually found in the house where she was hiding in a cupboard.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele says they investigated further and established that the child had been hiding to escape her guardians.
It is alleged that they would lock her inside the house and deprive her of food.
The suspects aged 61 and 63 were immediately placed under arrest.
