Sudanese man blows up wife, son in south Russia

KRASNODAR, February 10 (RIA Novosti) - Prosecutors in south Russia brought charges on Tuesday against a Sudanese national accused of blowing up his wife and two-year-old handicapped son.

The 40-year-old man, whose name has not been released, has been accused of killing his wife and son on June 7 last year in the village of Medvedovskaya in southern Russia's Krasnodar Territory. The man has dual Russian and Sudanese citizenship.

"The accused wanted to take his two daughters, 12 and 6 years old, back to Sudan to marry them off and receive a dowry in line with his country's traditions," the prosecutor's report reads.

"The girls' mother was opposed to this and the investigators believe that the man decided to kill his wife and two-year-old handicapped son, thus removing the obstacles to the completion of his plan."

Investigations said that on the night of June 7, the accused waited until his wife and son fell asleep. He then brought into the bedroom a tank of compressed natural gas, opened the nozzle and then ignited the accumulated gas vapors.

"As a result of the explosion, the woman and her son died at the scene, and the man received burns to 60% of his body," the report said.

Investigators said that the accused had meticulously prepared his crime because "right before he ignited the inflammable tank, he had woken his daughters, taken them outside onto the street, and had given one of them a briefcase containing all of their personal documents before returning to the house."

The man was placed under arrest after being released from hospital.