A MUM-OF-THREE tied up and beat a toddler while babysitting him before taking pictures of his injuries, it’s alleged.
Gulmira Lukyanova, 25, is alleged to have regularly tortured little Maksim Pisarev while she babysat for her best friend in the village of Koyanbay in south-central Russia.
Horrific images taken by Lukyanova show the slight 18-month-old sitting on the floor with his hands and legs tied up and covered in facial bruises.
Reports say the woman was supposed to babysit Maksim while his mother was at work but ‘treated him like a prisoner’ instead.
She allegedly made up stories for the toddler’s mother, 20-year-old Yevgeniya Kabelskaya, to explain the numerous bruises on his face and body.
She was my best friend and I trusted her
Yevgeniya Kabelskaya
“Gulmira was my best friend and I trusted her,” Ms Kabelskaya told local media.
Maksim’s ordeal lasted for several months before his mother became suspicious.
“Once I came from work and saw a horrible bruise on Maksim’s left cheek,” she said. “Gulmira said he had fallen from the top of the piano. I did not believe her and reported the fact to the police.”
Mum-of-three Lukyanova, who is pregnant with her fourth child, allegedly confessed to tying up Maksim during a police interrogation.
She has been charged with torturing a minor and put under house arrest, and faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
The babysitter allegedly tied the boy up so that ‘he did not bother her’ leaving him without food and water for the whole day, and beat him with a stick for crying.
During an investigation, police received a tip-off from Lukyanova’s brother after she sent him the distressing pictures, which have now been released to media by the toddler’s mum.
“She sent me the pictures saying they were ‘funny’,” the accused’s brother Ruslan Bukenov told local media.
“Once I came to visit her and saw the boy being tied to a radiator. She said she was punishing him for misbehaving and laughed.”
Police have also launched a criminal case against Maksim’s mother, for leaving the boy in danger, and are continuing to investigate.