Mum kills baby daughter in murder-suicide for alleged demonic ritual

Amother is believed to have stabbed her one-year-old daughter and a cat before she turned the knife onto herself during what officers believed to be a black magic ritual.

The three were found dead inside an apartment in the city of Rostov-on-Don in Russia. According to The Sun, authorities had to forcefully open the apartment because it was locked from the inside. They managed to get in and were shocked at what they saw.

The police said that the mother, 32-year-old Elizaveta Tsarevskaya, had stab wounds on her body. She was also found naked and lying on top of her dead daughter.

"After opening the apartment, even hardened law enforcement officers were shocked," a police spokesperson said adding, "Bloody things, objects of magic rituals were scattered everywhere. The woman's body was on her dead daughter. For some reason, the mother was naked. In addition, another victim was found - a cat."

Officers suspect that Tsarevskaya had inflicted the wounds on the animal and on her child. She then committed suicide as part of a "ritual killing." The woman's husband, Artur Rusin, said she had been obsessed with the occult and in communicating with the dead. She even quit her job as an architect to study black magic. The 26-year old said his wife graduated with honours from the School of Architecture and was a talented fashion designer.

It is believed that Tsarevskaya started developing an interest in witchcraft after she met her lover Anton, who is also into black magic. They met when Rusin had to go to another city for work and they continued with the affair until she became pregnant with her baby daughter. Her husband initially took care of the child believing it to be his own. Photos of her lover were reportedly also found next to the dead bodies.

Police are still investigating the case. They have also yet to bring Anton in for questioning regarding Tsarevskaya and their baby daughter's death. He is still wanted by the authorities.