The mum accused of killing her daughter and her lover were “not mad” when they abused and tortured the girl while wrapped up in their Facebook fantasy world, jurors have been told.

Eight-year-old Ayesha Ali was found dead in her bedroom in Chadwell Heath in August 2013 having suffered more than 40 injuries including a bite mark and carpet burns.

Her mum, Polly Chowdhury, 35, was subject to “brainwashing and control” by Kiki Muddar, 43, who are jointly accused of her murder, the Old Bailey heard.

But although Muddar, 43, created manipulative alter egos using social media she was not delusional and understood her actions, prosecutor Richard Whittam QC, said

In his closing speech, he said: “However immoral, abhorrent and illegal her judgment, it was rational. She hated the girl getting between her and Polly.

“Bearing in mind the nature of the offence and this fictional world on Facebook, there is no question of either defendant having been mad.

“In other words, when discussing a case like this and how awful it must be, there is no question of saying they must have been mad.”

Both women blamed each other over the girl’s death, which happened with a “background of prolonged abuse, some might even consider it torture”, the court heard. They hit Ayesha with a wooden spoon and,on the day she died, she was given a cold bath as a punishment for wetting herself.

Mr Whittam admitted that the case made him realise that “truth is stranger than fiction”.

Muddar, of Green Lane, Ilford, and Chowdhury, of Broomfield Road, Chadwell Heath, deny murder, manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child between March 1 and August 29 2013.

Judge Christopher Moss QC is expected to sum up the case on Thursday before sending the jury out to consider its verdicts.