A Drunk Viktar Syarhel attacked and murdered the eight-month-old baby girl of the woman he was drinking with. The father of the toddler discovered his wife and Syarhel passed out drunk in their home. Leonid Kold also discovered the beheaded body of their daughter. For the murder, both the mother, Natalya Kold, and Syarhel have been convicted. While Natalya will be serving the maximum jail sentence for a woman in Belarus, Syarhel has been sentenced to death.

It is believed that Natalya and Syarhel had been on a massive drinking session together. When Leonid returned home with the couple's two sons, the three were shocked to find the baby Anna lying in a pool of blood. Leonid looked for his wife and found Syarhel and Natalya covered in the child's blood and still drunk.

When the emergency medical team arrived, the responder fainted at the sight of the dead child. A Post-mortem report later revealed that the child had been brutally beaten and abused before being beheaded with a kitchen knife. Anna has 46 injuries to her small body. The incident happened soon after the family had baptised Anna at an Orthodox Church. Neighbours believed that the family was a happy one before the unfortunate incident occurred.

firing squads to execute death row prisoners
firing squad Reuters

After nearly a year since the nightmare attack on the baby, Syarhel and Natalya have been convicted. Brest Regional Court heard the details of the ghastly crime and the "particular cruelty" by which the baby killer had taken Anna's life. Taking into consideration the findings of the investigation conducted by the police, the court convicted both Syarhel and Natalya.

In Belarus, the maximum sentence for a woman is 25 years in prison. Natalya will be serving the maximum sentence for her involvement in her child's death.

Belarus is the only European country that still has the death penalty. Syarhel has been given the death penalty for his evil act. The court has ordered death by firing squad. Unlike movie representations of a firing squad line up, Syarhel will be dispatched with a single bullet to the back of the head. He will be made to kneel wearing a blindfold before the executioner shoots him in the head from behind.

In Belarus, men between the ages of 18 and 65 can be sentenced to death. The Sun pointed out that more than 400 men have been executed in the ex-Soviet country since 1991.