A Texas couple was recently arrested after their 9-month-old baby suffered from severe malnutrition, state authorities said.

Jenny Sanchez, 23, and Adariance Rahman, 22, are charged with one count each of serious bodily injury to a minor and endangering the life of a minor, according to the Gatesville Police Department.

The investigation began on July 20 at a residence on North 27th Street in Gatesville, a small town about 65 miles west of Waco.

Someone called the police because they were concerned that the baby was not receiving adequate care, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the CBS affiliate in Waco, KWTX, and the NBC affiliate in Temple, KCEN.

Officers arrived at the residence around 9 p.m. and observed signs of extreme malnutrition, police reported. Paramedics later transported the child to Baylor Children's Medical Center in Temple.

Police also described the girl as being very underweight for her age and noted that her ribs, collarbones, shoulder blades and spine were clearly visible through the skin, according to the complaint.

The baby's eyes were sunken and her skin looked pale and sagging, police added.

For his part, Sanchez allegedly stated that the girl had had the flu, but had never been to the doctor or had a checkup since her birth, according to the charging document.

The mother added that she stopped breastfeeding the baby when she was four months old, according to police. Sánchez allegedly stated that the girl also does not drink formula milk, but rather water and infant formula, according to the complaint.

Medical staff at the hospital described the girl as severely malnourished, with bone abnormalities and suffering from a rare condition known as refeeding syndrome, a condition in which food is reintroduced to a person who has previously suffered a nutritional deficiency.

According to the complaint, an employee stated that the situation was “one of the worst cases of infant malnutrition she had ever seen in a living baby” and described her condition as life-threatening.

Medical staff indicated that the girl could suffer from growth problems, as well as delays in cognitive and motor development due to malnutrition.

The mother and father were subsequently arrested: the mother at the hospital and the father at the family home.

Child Protective Services took the baby into protective custody, along with two other children who lived in the home, police said.