Man Forced Fiancée To Drink Acid, Killed Her While 5-Year-Old Son Watched

A man forced his 42-year-old fiancée to drink acid while her young son watched the incident in horror as his mother squirmed "like a worm," a Russian court heard Tuesday. Alexander Larin, 33, was jailed for 19 years for poisoning Olga Ryadchikova in front of her 5-year-old son.

During the court hearing, prosecutors detailed how the acid caused "chemical burns" to Olga's mouth, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, upper respiratory tract, and "severe toxic damage" to her internal organs leading to her death. Prosecutors said the woman experienced excruciating pain for three days as she burned inside, according to U.K.'s the Sun. The incident took place in the Russian city of Chita but it wasn't clear when it happened.

The woman was unable to walk, eat or drink, for days and later died from acute poisoning, the court was told. Prosecutors reportedly said that the victim's son remains "haunted" by the memory of watching his mother suffer in pain. The child became the main witness against the man who was soon due to become his stepfather, the Sun reported.

“He made my mummy drink white beer, and she spat it out like a fountain," the boy said. “She was lying in the corridor and squirming like a worm.”

Larin told the court his fiancée voluntarily drank the acid. However, prosecutors reportedly said that Larin prevented her getting medical treatment following the incident. The court rejected the man's not guilty plea.

The court found that Ryadchikova had been forced to drink a cocktail of at least 50 milliliters of 70 percent-strength acetic acid.

The boy told the court how “mummy looked into my eyes... Then she closed her eyes, and did not open them again.”

The victims’ aunt Valentina Fominykh, 66, who found Ryadchikova unresponsive in her home, said that the 19-year-sentence for Larin wasn't enough.

“He should have been given life,” she said. “Such a person must never be free… he will harm someone else.”

Ryadchikova's son is currently being raised by his maternal grandmother.