Russian mother sentenced to 8 years in jail for putting her infant on the highway

GlobalPost

A Russian mother who put her infant son in the middle of the highway hoping he would get killed by oncoming cars has been sentenced to eight years in prison, RT News reported

24-year-old Elena Osina and her 21-year-old brother Alexander put her 9-month-old son on a Moscow area highway at night in May 2011. He was rescued after spending about 10 minutes in the middle of the roadway by Anna Gavrilina, a police officer who was driving on the road at the time and saw him, the Associated Press reported

Investigator's called the boy's survival "a miracle," the AP reported. 

Osina and her brother both pled guilty to the crime, according to RT News. Alexander will spend nine years in prison. 

The infant, named Roma, was "not liked" by Elena's family of six, who had been struggling for several years living in a tiny container outside of Moscow before becoming homeless, RT News reported. 

Roma and his older brother have both since been adopted, according to the AP. 

"Everyone can make a mistake," the young mother reportedly told Russia's Channel One, the AP reported. 

More from GlobalPost: Breastfeeding halves risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Will you support The World?

The story you just read is not locked behind a paywall because listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Now more than ever, we need your help to support our global reporting work and power the future of The World. Can we count on you?