(Image source: Daily Mail/East2west news)
A man who was found guilty of “inciting” his friend to “suicide” when he found out that the man sexually abused his daughter has been jailed in Russia.
According to the Daily Mail, 35-year-old Vyacheslav Matrosov forced his friend, 32-year-old Oleg Sviridov to dig his own grave when he discovered the abuse. Sviridov died after a fight with Matrosov in a forest near the Samara region. He suffered knife wounds and was then buried by Matrosov in an unmarked grave.
Matrosov found out about the abuse by chance when he found disgusting footage on his friend’s phone that showed Sviridov abusing Matrosov’s daughter when she was six. His daughter, who is now 9 years old, was filmed on the horrifying footage and it also came to light that Sviridov had abused other children as well including one aged 6 and another 11.
It is reported that Matrosov did the right thing when he discovered the abuse and reported the rapes to the police who launched a hunt for Sviridov. But Matrosov came across him first and a fight ensued. He insisted that he did not intentionally kill Sviridov, but that the sick abuser fell on his knife and died during the fight. There were rumours that Sviridov was given a choice of going to the police or face Matrosov’s fury. In the end, investigators decided that he had taken his own life during the fight.
Following the death, there was a huge outcry as members of the public voiced their support for the actions of Matrosov who, they believe, acted like any heartbroken father would. A fund was started in his village to raise money to pay for his legal bills and he was hailed as someone who did the village a service by getting rid of a child sex abuser.
A petition was set up, demanding that he should not be jailed and 2,500 signatures were collected. He was not held in detention but instead allowed to remain under house arrest during the trial.
If he had been charged with murder, Matrosov could have been sentenced to 15 years in jail. Even so, his family and friends are disappointed that he has been jailed for 18 months and they are hoping for a pardon in the next few months. The case has led to renewed calls for tougher crimes against paedophiles.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.