Man who brutally beat 8-month-old girl to death before beheading her sentenced to death by firing squad
A 48-year-old man in Belarus has been sentenced to death by a firing squad for beating an eight-month-old girl to death before beheading her.
The harshest punishment was doled out to Viktar Sharhel, who was convicted of brutally killing an infant named Anna, while the latter's mother watched. Natalya Kolb, 26, the baby's mother, was friends with the defendant and the pair were drinking at her apartment when Sharhel carried out the heinous act, Daily Mail reported.
Prosecutors told the Brest Regional Court that the victim had been badly beaten before being killed in a fashion that had "particular cruelty" written all over it. An autopsy report revealed that the child had 46 separate injuries on her body. The murder weapon was a kitchen knife.
The body of the infant was discovered by her father, Leonid Kolb, when he entered the home with the couple's two sons. He found "his daughter lying in the pool of blood, her head severed."
According to neighbors living near the family's home, the couple was "happy" and they had even recently baptized the child in the Orthodox Church. Perhaps it was why news of the gruesome murder came as a shock to all of them.
"When Leonid came into the flat he saw a scene out of the horror movies," One of them, who was not identified, said. "The ambulance doctor fainted when she came in."
The baby's mother was sentenced to 25 years behind bars after being convicted of the same crime, which was the highest form of punishment for women in the country.
Meanwhile, there has been a lot of debate over the death penalty verdicts in Belarus in recent times. Despite a large population being opposed to it, the country's president Alexander Lukashenko recently indicated death penalties will continue to be the ultimate punishment for criminals although he did not whole-heartedly support it.
"If the people vote so, we will abolish it. We have had a referendum. Do you think I am happy about this death penalty, considering that I sign it, and then, put crudely, someone is shot?" he said.