On the morning of June 26, an exasperated Russian man set Fire to a local church because his wife kept donating his family’s money to it.
It was gathered that on that faithful day, a fire broke out at the Church of St. Basil the Great in the village of Pargolovo, Russia’s Saint Petersburg district.
The fire quickly engulfed the wooden roof and walls of the building, and the entire place would have probably burned to ashes if not for parishioners who put the fire out themselves.
Local news outlets reported that many of the locals had tears in their eyes as they looked at the damages done to their church.
However, that sadness quickly turned to anger directed at the man responsible for the damages.
Reports have it that in the beginning, many believed that the fire had been the result of a short circuit due to faulty electrical wiring, and even trusted it as a heavenly sign to construct a bigger, lovelier church.
However, it didn’t take long for police to find the true culprit, a 36-year-old man who had purportedly chosen to get back at the Church n in the wake of quarrelling with his wife.
The father-of-four purportedly battled with his wife, who frequently volunteered at the Church, since she continued to give all their cash to it.
So on Sunday morning, he put a canister of gasoline in the trunk of his vehicle, drove down to the Church, sprinkled the walls with fuel, and subsequent to ensuring nobody was inside, set it on fire.
“He worked 24/7, they have four children and his wife works at the church. Everything he earned, she brought to the temple. Because of this, they had a conflict. He realized that he would either do something to his wife or burn the temple.” the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported.
The man chose the latter, and never denied his guilt in front of the police.
Even though the scorned arsonist asked to be detained for his crime, the judge decided to have him go home until sentencing is passed in his case.
We don’t know if the court made this decision because of a lack of a criminal record or because of his four children but the man is a free man for now.
Meanwhile, it was reported that even though the fire caused serious damage to the outside of the Church of St. Basil the Great, the interior was largely unaffected by the blaze.
ALSO READ: Woman Fatally Struck By Train After Falling Onto New York City Subway Tracks
