A child has died after jumping from his parents’ flat after years of alleged abuse. The boy, named only as Anton, killed himself after getting home from school on August 23 in Enerhodar, southern Ukraine. Downstairs neighbour, Zhanna said she heard Anton’s parents ripping his clothes and beating him followed by silence, the sound of a child running. She said: ‘Several seconds passed and there was that horrific thud when a body hits the ground,’ she added. ‘I looked out of my kitchen window and saw the boy lying below. I called an ambulance and the police.’ Another neighbour said: ‘I saw the family going upstairs to their flat. Ten minutes later the boy was lying on the ground as his parents were racing downstairs in the street.’ Anton suffered horrific head injuries and was declared dead at the scene. The parents admitted to beating their son, according to local reports, and they are now being investigated.
They said they beat him whenever he misbehaved but have now gone on the run. His school teacher Oksana Zelenska said: ‘The boy fell behind at school and we had to hold him back in first grade. His parents were not interested in him at all.’ His psychologist Zoya Pershyna added: ‘Anton visited me for counselling several times. I did not see it coming.’
