A 19-year-old man killed his 1 1/2-year old stepdaughter in a Novosibirsk region village after she refused to eat her porridge.
The shocking crime occurred Friday, when the child's mother was away, working in the regional capital, the local branch of the Investigative Committee said in a statement on its website Wednesday.
After the child refused the buckwheat porridge the stepfather had cooked her, he struck her on the head with his fist, causing her fatal brain damage, the statement said.
When the mother returned from Novosibirsk 48 hours later, she found her dead child's body and contacted police.
Police have already apprehended the young stepfather, who has been charged with murdering an infant, investigators said. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Just last year, a similar incident occurred in the same region, when a longtime drug addict killed his 2-year-old daughter after she refused her porridge. The perpetrator was recently sentenced to 19 years in a high-security prison.
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