A dad allegedly burned his five-year-old daughter in an oven to hide his crime after she passed out when he violently pushed her.
The child, named as Darina, hit her head and did not respond when given 'artificial respiration,' according to reports.
It is alleged the dad, Pavel Makarchuk, lit a fire in the stove and shoved her inside before dumping her charred remains in a river.
Police don't yet know whether the girl was alive or dead when he put her in.
When police once visited their home in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, Makarchuk and his wife reportedly dressed their three-year-old son in girl's clothes to try and fool officers their daughter was still alive.
The incident somehow remained covered up for nine months, reports say.
Makarchuk, 50, has been detained on suspicion of throwing Darina into the oven.
Police have launched a murder probe and will investigate whether she was alive or dead when she was allegedly cut up and thrown into the fire.
Makarchuk's 41-year-old wife has been detained as an accessory to the murder.
Regional police commander in Zhytomyr, Artem Lisogor, said: "The father pushed or hit the girl.
"The child fell down and crashed her head against the threshold.
"The girl passed out and did not recover.
"The father decided to hide this crime, so the child was put inside the stove and burned."
When a handcuffed Makarchuk was brought back to the scene of the alleged murder for a crime re-enactment, he was branded a "beast" by a crowd of villagers.
One woman shouted: "You are an animal Pasha (Pavel), a b*****d.
"You should be chopped to pieces and be burnt."
The child’s death came three months after officials had sent Darina back to her biological parents, as she was looked after by a foster mother for at least two years.
The parents, who have three other children, reportedly confessed to the attempt to cover-up Darina’s death and admitted she had been thrown into the stove.
The unnamed mother told police that after shoving the child, her husband had tried to give the girl "artificial respiration" but she did not respond.
He then allegedly lit a fire in the stove and "carried her charred remains to the river".
Her remains - including burnt bones - have not been located after being thrown in a river, say police.
"We are doing our best to verify the information and establish all the circumstances," said police source Alexander Radchenko.
There is a separate row over the case after police complained local social activities had successfully campaigned for the girl to be returned to her natural family from a "loving" foster home.
The foster mother Natalya Kobernik had sought to overturn the ruling and get the child back arguing that Darina would not be properly cared for.
But she was told Makarchuk was a "reliable and normal" parent.
She accused the authorities of placing the child in a family where she was at risk of abuse.
The foster mother has reportedly appealed to locals to find the girl's remains so she can be given a proper burial.
Meanwhile, the couple’s other children, both boys, have been taken into care.
Makarchuk faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted of murder.
