'Sunlight diet': Russian influencer starves 1-year-old to death; gets 8-year jail

NEW DELHI: A Russian influencer was sentenced to 8 months of imprisonment for starving his one month old son to death by feeding him sunlight instead of food, UK based news site Metro reported.
Maxim Lyutyi wanted his son Kosmos to be a superman after atarting the infant on a strictly vegan 'prana' diet that included foods such as berries, which are said to boost the body's spiritual health.
The child died of ‘pneumonia and emaciation’ on his way to the hospital.
According to his Instagram post, Lyutyi was expected to be released this year in March before he got sentenced to 8 years of jail for ‘intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm’.
According to the Mirror, Lyutyi wanted ‘to experiment on the child, feed him purely with the sun, and then advertise it to others that this is how you can eat’.
He also denied traditional medicine and soaked Kosmos in cold water to toughen him up, the court had heard.
Highlighting how Lyutyi avoided his wife from breastfeeding the child, Mironova’s cousin Olesya Nikolayeva said, "He forced her not to feed the baby. Her boyfriend believed that the sun was feeding the baby."
"How is it possible to feed the baby with sunlight? A baby needs his mother’s milk", Nikolayeva added.
Lytutyi initially attempted to shift the blame onto his partner, who has already been sentenced to two years of ‘correctional labor’, by suggesting that her iron deficiency led to Kosmos’ tragic demise.
However, during his final court appearance before sentencing this week, he confessed to killing his son.
Despite this admission, he maintained that harming his son was never his intention, pleading with the court to view the offense as a matter of negligence during sentencing.
"I fully acknowledge my wrongdoing in allowing negligence to lead to the death of my cherished first-born due to my inaction and irresponsibility. I am also culpable for failing to fulfill my parental duties adequately, and I deeply regret this," he told the court.
"However, I want to make it clear that I never deprived my child of nourishment, prohibited his mother from feeding him, subjected him to harsh conditions, or exposed him to cold water," he added.
Prosecutors are pushing for a sentence of eight and a half years in prison along with an approximately £900 fine.