Raw food blogger who reportedly believes in a bizarre sunlight diet detained after baby son dies, say authorities

• Authorities allege that the Russian health blogger is "suspected of torturing a baby" after his son died.
• The man is dedicated to a raw food diet and believes he can feed off the sun's energy, say reports.

Authorities have detained a Russian health blogger known for promoting radical eating habits after his baby died.

"The man is suspected of torturing a baby," the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation alleged in a statement. It continued that they had opened a criminal case against the man.

"After the birth of the child, the suspect took the baby from the mother at least three times between February and March of this year and deprived him of the opportunity to eat for a day," it said.

The 43-year-old is dedicated to a radical raw food diet and the belief that he can feed off the sun's energy, Yahoo News reports.

Russian law enforcement stated that the couple "tried to transfer the baby to prana eating — a diet in which people go without food and water for a long time and 'feed on the sun,'" according to a local news outlet, per Yahoo News.

On March 8, 2023, due to the deteriorating health of the baby, the couple decided to take the child to a hospital near the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, but the boy died on the way, said the authorities.

The Russian news outlet 78 said that the baby — born on February 11, 2023, according to Russian authorities — refused nourishment, leading the food blogger to conclude he must want to feed off the sun's energy.

His partner, the deceased baby's mother, has been charged with death by negligence and placed under house arrest.

Friends of the couple said that, when pregnant, she would secretly ask neighbors for food, reported The Voice magazine.

Russian authorities report that the baby was born at home without any doctors or medical professionals present.