Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency:  Newsflash

This is the eight-year-old boy who died after he was covered in gasoline and set alight by his own mother because he told his stepdad that she had been cheating on him.

The tragic incident took place on Zarechye farm in the town of Zheleznogorsk in the West Russian federal district of Kursk Oblast this Monday (March 15).

According to the local news site Smi, Anastasia Baulina, 31, was angry that her eight-year-old son told her husband, who has not been named, about her infidelity.

The husband, whose identity has not been revealed, 35, decided to discuss the rumour with Baulina, but after having learned that her son had told on her, she went out into the street, doused the young boy with gasoline and set him on fire.

Local news site Kurskaya Pravda reported that the boys step-dad rushed outside to put out the flames and an ambulance was called.

The eight-year-old was taken to the Kursk regional hospital, where doctors reported that he had suffered third-degree burns covering 60 percent of his body.

The doctors were unable to save the boy, and he died two days after the incident on 17th March.

Reportedly, this was not the first time Baulina had physically abused her son.

A spokesperson from the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Kursk region reported: “In the course of the investigation, it was found that the accused from November 2016 to March 2021 systematically abused her son both physically and verbally.”

The spokesperson added: “The woman was repeatedly reported for her failure to fulfil her parental responsibilities.”

Baulina has a second child, a 12-year-old daughter who is being taken into the care of the Zheleznogorsk Center for Social Assistance to Family and Children.

According to the local news site Life, the mother has been detained and authorities are investigating the incident.

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