Mother accused of burning girl during ritual
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NEW YORK - A mother and grandmother were charged with setting a 6-year-old girl on fire during a voodoo ritual that caused life-threatening burns over 25 percent of the child’s body, prosecutors said yesterday.
The girl sustained physical and emotional scars after she was set ablaze with lighter fluid and kept at home overnight until another relative insisted that she be taken to the hospital, prosecutors said.
“The child’s mother is alleged to have intentionally poured an accelerant over her young daughter’s body, causing her to be engulfed in flames,’’ Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.
The 29-year-old mother was charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child. If convicted, she faces up to 25 years in prison.
The grandmother, 70, was charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. She faces up to seven years if convicted.
