Girl freezes to death after sleepwalking into unheated hallway

A three-year-old girl froze to death after she sleepwalked into unheated 5 F (-15 C) hallway of her family home without her parents realising in Russia.

After the mother Svetlana Kuleshova, 23, searched for Angelina, she was found dead near the front door of her home.

The family reportedly celebrated the birthday of their younger daughter, who turned one, the evening before the incident occurred in Russia’s southern town of Satka.

Recalling the evening, Svetlana said to the local police: ‘I put Angelina to bed and she fell asleep before midnight. ‘We [Svetlana and her husband] watched a little TV and went to bed too. When we woke up in the morning, we did not find her in her bed. We found her in the hall. She was lying on the floor.’

According to Angelina’s parents, she was prone to sleepwalking and they often had to ease her back to bed. But on the night on the tragedy, which occurred a week ago, on December 4, none of them noticed her leaving her room, Dailymail UK reported.

The mother believes Angelina sleepwalked into the hall, which is a not heated area of the family’s house, and could not find her way back.

Svetlana added: ‘She was a sleepwalker. [She] went to the hall and failed to return back. Most likely she didn’t find the door handle in the dark and could not go back in.’

The mother says both she and her husband did not hear any sounds throughout the horrible night.

Police launched a criminal case for causing death through negligence against the mother, who faces up to two years in jail if convicted.

 

Local law enforcement official Mikhail Krokhin commented: ‘The investigation established that the girl left the indoor area of the house on her own. She walked in the hall where she suffered from hypothermia and died.’

Reports say the temperature in the hall, where the girl died, was 5 F (-15 C).

In the winter, the average temperatures in the town of Satka can drop to 1F (-17C), with one-off days sometimes falling to as low as -13F (-25C).

Svetlana’s baby daughter was taken away from her by social services. The child will be staying in an orphanage at least until the investigation is over, say reports. Psychologists are to talk to Svetlana in order to verify the sincerity of her testimony, the prosecutor’s office said.