Russian wife shared bed with husband's mummified corpse

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A Russian mother-of-four slept with the mummified corpse of her husband for nearly four years – and performed occult rituals inspired by an ancient Egyptian god, police said.

The woman, identified only as 50-year-old Svetlana, shared a bed with her husband Vladimir’s desiccated remains and had forbidden her children from telling anyone about him on pain of being shipped off to an orphanage or a mental health facility, according to reporting by the news site 78.ru.

The 49-year-old husband collapsed and died after a domestic dispute in December 2020, during which the wife reportedly yelled at the man and wished him death.

The bizarre incident occurred at the family’s sprawling six-bedroom house in the village of Starosiverskaya in the Leningrad region.

The irked wife ignored her husband lying motionless on the floor for four hours, thinking that he was pretending, until the couple’s eldest daughter realized that there was something wrong with her dad.

The mom then barred her children from asking questions about their father, bundled up Vladimir’s lifeless body in a blanket and lugged it into the bedroom.

The ghoulish discovery was made last Thursday when social workers arrived at the house to check on the welfare of Svetlana’s children – 11-year-old twin boys and two girls, ages eight and 17.  

Caseworkers had visited the family more than a dozen times since 2021 but had previously failed to notice the dad’s blackened mummy in bed.

Vladimir’s body showed no signs of trauma that would suggest foul play, according to the Russian Investigative Committee for the Leningrad region.

A search of the cluttered house turned up multiple items associated with mysticism, including an Egyptian cross that was found at the feet of the mummified husband, tarot cards, amulets and images of animal skulls, reported the Russian outlet 47news.ru.

One of the bedrooms had been converted into a makeshift shrine honoring Anubis – the ancient Egyptian god of funerary rites and the protector of the underworld.

The wife was said to have carried out rituals to help preserve her husband’s body instead of laying him to rest, which she claimed was what Vladimir would have wanted.

The woman had told people her missing husband was in Tibet receiving alternative medical treatment.

Before his death, Vladimir suffered from problems with his feet because he refused to wear shoes outside and walked around in slippers, even in freezing weather.

The wife has been under psychiatric observation for many years because she was said to have a genetic predisposition for schizophrenia. She worked part-time as a veterinarian and treated animals out of her home, with her daughter acting as her surgical assistant.  

Following the grim discovery at her home, Svetlana was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.

Her four children were also hospitalized so they could be assessed by doctors and psychologists.

Any charges in the case “will be made based on the results of the forensic medical examination of the body and necessary verification activities, during which all the circumstances, as well as the causes and conditions of the incident, will be established,” said the Investigative Committee.

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