Story By: Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor: Alex Cope, Agency: Real Press
A 24-year-old woman has reportedly burned herself alive in front of a church hours after posting a photo of a couple on fire and complaining of being insulted and oppressed by those around her.
The incident took place in front of the Boha Ottsya Myloserdnoho Rkts Church in the city of Zaporizhia in the south-eastern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia Oblast.
Anastasia Niklas, 24, a member of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, reportedly doused herself in flammable liquid before setting herself alight in front of the Catholic church.
According to Dnepr Express news site (https://dnepr.express/), the police were informed of the incident at around 4am on 4th August.
TSN news channel (https://tsn.ua/) said the police have no doubts the young woman, who was brought up in a religious family, took her own life.
One of the victim’s friends said: “We studied in the same class and we owned our own company. She was a beautiful, funny person.
“Everyone is in complete shock. Nobody suspected she was in such a state. She had very pious parents and as far as I know, her father served in a church while her mum sang in a choir.
“Anastasia and I would sometimes go to church services together, but I couldn’t say that she was a strong believer.”
The Zanoza news channel said the church’s CCTV cameras clearly show the victim setting fire to herself.
A guard reportedly saw the incident and tried to help, but it was already too late.
At around 2.30am, just 90 minutes before her death, Anastasia complained about her life on social media and said that she has always lived with people around her who “oppressed, humiliated and insulted” her.
In one of her latest posts, she shared a photo of a couple burning in a fire.
The police investigation is ongoing.
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