WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

A man who is a suspected 'pedophile cannibal' has been taken into custody in Russia after he was accused of using an axe to kill a 21-year-old man and then cook and eat his body parts. Along with the crazed axeman was a 12-year-old girl who has also been accused of taking part in the murder and the dismembering of the victim's body. The 22-year-old man admitted to having a sexual relationship with the pre-teen who he has described as his "girlfriend". It is believed that she is potentially the victim of online grooming. The child had been reported as missing by her parents 10 days before the incident which, according to the police, took place in Sochi, about 1,500 miles away from where she was detained. 

The unnamed duo killed their victim, Alexander Popovich, and then "cooked his brains". The victim's head was discovered inside an oven in an apartment located in Novinka village where he lived. The home is 60 miles away from St. Petersburg, says a report in the Daily Mail.

A horrifying video that was released by the Russian Investigative Committee, which is the department that is in charge of looking into serious crime, shows a dirty ground floor apartment with blood stains everywhere and the victim's body covered up with a white quilt. The runaway girl was described in the missing persons report as looking older than a pre-teen, possibly around 15 or 16-years-old. It is still unclear how or when she met the axeman but it was discovered that she posted on her social media page saying: "love one stalker. I won't give him away to anyone, he is only mine. I do not need anybody else."

The Russian police spoke about the gruesome killing in a report saying: "A man and an underage girl are suspected of the cruel murder and dismembering a 21-year-old citizen of Novinka village of Leningrad region. The investigators are also checking the information about suspects eating body parts of the killed man."

It has been reported that the man and the child have told the police: "There was nothing else to eat." The police said that the victim had been decapitated and that his arms were also cut off. Wounds made by an axe were clearly visible on his chest and certain parts of his heart. Popovich's abdominal organs had also been removed and the axe was found close to his body.

One officer who was at the scene of the crime said: "The contents of the frying pan did not look like the fresh meat found at a supermarket." According to the police, the couple had been detained after the two of them had tried to set the apartment on fire. It was reported that the two of them had been living with Popovich in his flat as ledgers. The neighbors were the ones who saw the smoke coming from the apartment and then the alleged murderers jumping out of a window from the house. 

The victim's brother has said: "I climbed inside through a window. It was a mess there, as if the apartment had been robbed. Then I saw something covered with a blanket and in blood. I did not know it was him, I rushed out. I was in a panic. My only thought was – please don't let it be him. I called a neighbour, and he forced open the door. With two neighbours, a man and a woman, we got inside. I immediately understood that it was my brother there."

The suspected pedophile told the police that the pre-teen girl was his "girlfriend" and that he confessed to having sexual relations with her. The man is set to face charges of murder and dismembering a body which will have a maximum of 15 years in jail. The authorities have said that he will also face charges of trying to have sex with an underage child which has a maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars.

The girl is technically unter the age of criminal responsibility in Russia which means she cannot be tried for any of the crimes. After being detained, she was put into the care of the Center for Underage Criminals of St. Petersburg.