[Note: undated footage]

A woman arrested for pretending to be a child beggar in Brazil was found to have hundreds of needles pushed into her body.

The 42-year-old woman had been picked up off the street by police in Goiania, in the state of Goias, where she was claiming to be an 11-year-old girl fleeing abuse.

But when she was taken for routine medical checks on 2nd August medics found hundreds of needles inserted under her skin, reports local media.

Baffling X-ray images revealed more than 200 needles under the surface, some pushed deep into her flesh.

Police had been called in by local priests who were concerned that the woman was running a con.

Despite her appearance, she claimed to be an 11-year-old girl fleeing black magic rituals and prostitution.

She blamed her adult appearance on hormones she said her abusive father had forced her to take.

Military Police discovered she used the name Amanda Maria and had been running the same con trick for years.

Local media reports said that she had criminal records in five Brazilian states for receiving stolen goods, giving false information and using false documents.

She has been remanded in custody pending further police inquiries.
Inserting needles and other foreign objects under the skin is known by medics as 'self-embedding' and is considered to be a form of non-suicidal self-harm.