A YouTuber who is accused of live-streaming while his near-naked girlfriend died in front of his audience has been arrested.
via The Mirror:
Stas Reeflay allegedly forced the pregnant woman – who was wearing only her underwear – out into the subzero temperatures after a row.
The 30-year-old was allegedly paid $1,000 (£740) by a viewer to inflict this abuse on her in his live stream, according to a report by Russian media.
The woman Valentina “Valya” Grigoryeva, 28, died at the scene of suspected hypothermia.
The case has led to a call in Russia for an urgent ban on such online reality violence which appears unrestricted on internet sites and can be watched by children.
Reeflay – real name Stanislav Reshetnikov – allegedly kept his camera rolling even as he realised Valentina was “half dead” after she was put on an exposed balcony.
He is then reported to have carried her back inside his rented house in Ivanovka village, near Moscow, and kept filming as he tried and failed to revive her.
In the video, that The Mirror has decided not to show, he was heard saying: “Valya, are you alive?
“My bunny, what’s up with you?
“Valya, Valya, damn, you look like you are dead.
“Bunny, come on…tell me something. I’m worrying. Damn… I’m not feel her heartbeat.”
He informed his viewers: “Guys… No pulse… She’s pale. She is not breathing.”
The horrific broadcast is reported to have continued to his 10s of thousands of followers, even when he called an ambulance.
He is heard saying: “Wake up, Valya, I love you, wake up.”
And it still went on when paramedics arrived and pronounced her dead.
It is believed the broadcast continued for two hours after she had died.
In a previous broadcast he is accused of showering her with pepper spray.
Reeflay makes money by receiving online “donations” from his Russian and international audience.
Feminist activist Liza Lazerson hit out at YouTube for “prohibiting the spread of nipples but showing scenes of violence and cruelty against women “without problems”.
“The woman dies on air – and the audience sends donations to the killer. This must stop.”
She warned: “Such videos are calmly broadcast to the whole world, meaning something is broken.
“Until this is fixed, censorship is necessary.”
Reshetnikov faces up to two years in prison if forensic experts prove that his girlfriend died of hypothermia, say reports citing law enforcement.
“Information will also be checked about possible unlawful actions against the deceased by the young man in whose house the body was found,” said the Russian Investigative Committee.
The streamer was held by police who attended the scene, and faced an interrogation over the broadcast and the woman’s death.
An “urgent” investigation is now underway with checks on whether other laws have been broken in the live broadcast.
While YouTube didn’t broadcast the original incident, copies of the stream have been popping up all over the network.
“We’re shocked to learn of this tragic incident,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement. “This kind of graphic content is not acceptable on YouTube.”
