Story By:  Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor:  Joseph Golder,  Agency: Central European News

A man who tortured his girlfriend’s infant son by beating him and burning him with a cigarette before strangling him to death has been jailed for 20 years.

Roman Gorvat, 23, was sentenced to 20 years in a maximum security prison for killing the one-year-old boy, whose name has not been disclosed, in the city of Pushkino in the western Russian region of Moscow Oblast.

The young man moved into the one-bedroom flat of the victim’s mother, identified as 20-year-old Liubov Kravchenko, shortly after meeting her, according to news site Pnovosti.

Neighbours reportedly complained of the boy’s cries accompanied by loud shouts from a man. He was quoted as saying “you have to choose, either your kid or me”.

Meanwhile, Pnovosti said that the couple was unemployed and drank alcohol frequently.

On 11th December 2019, Kravchenko left the flat after a blazing row and left her one-year-old son alone with her boyfriend.

In a fit of rage, the man beat the toddler before strangling him to death.

A forensics report said that the cause of death was asphyxiation. Meanwhile, bruises, bites and cigarette burns were also found on the victim’s body, according to Pnovosti.

Gorvat was arrested the same day and confessed to the crime under questioning.

The victim’s biological dad reacted to his son’s death by posting: “There is no forgiveness for my son. I want you to suffer the same fate.”

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