A popular Russian hair stylist has been arrested on suspicion of 'torturing' her 12-year-old son after becoming convinced he was possessed by the devil.
Maya Mayer beat the boy with an ice hockey stick during months of abuse aiming to exorcise evil spirits, it is alleged.
The 29-year-old is also accused of injecting son Anton with high doses of painkillers and sedatives so he did not scream during the thrashings.
When police found the boy alone in a hotel room in Nizhny Novgorod city he and his mother shared, the child told them: 'She kept saying that…she was casting out the demons from me.'
The boy was initially discovered by a hotel manager alone, 'emaciated' and 'covered in bruises' including under his eyes and on his chest.
There were injection marks in his legs and buttocks, according to police.
Video shows Mayer handcuffed to a police officer and in a court cage where she was detained for two months on child torture charges that could lead to a seven-year jail sentence.
An ice hockey stick, syringe, and painkilling drugs were seized from the hotel room where police reportedly found 'blood spots'.
The woman - who also has a daughter aged one month-both children are now in care.
Russian stylist arrested for 'torturing her son to banish the devil'
Russian hair stylist Maya Mayer has been arrested for allegedly beating her 12-year-old son during months of abuse trying to exorcise 'evil spirits'. He was found alone in a hotel room in Nizhny Novgorod.
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