A former senior Interior official is sentenced in Russia to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl

May 26. (EUROPE PRESS) –

A Moscow court has sentenced Vitali Berezhni, a former high-ranking Interior Ministry official, to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in the city of Tyumen.

The court has indicated that Berezhni has been found guilty of both crimes and will have to enter a penal colony, according to information from the Russian news agency TASS.

Previously, the jury in charge of the case has indicated during a closed-door hearing that the defendant “does not deserve clemency” given the seriousness of the crimes with which he is charged.

The investigation indicates that the defendant met the victim in June 2021, whom he had not previously met. Thus, he lured her to her house, where he raped and killed her. Later, the man packed her body and kept it in her apartment while the authorities searched for the minor, who was listed as missing.

In August, the authorities found the body of the minor next to a lake, in an area of ​​little accessibility.