A 19-year-old woman and her 29-year-old companion, both Bulgarian nationals, were sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for the fatal scalding of the woman’s three-year-old son, known as Thanassis, last March near the large Cretan city of Irakleio.

The gruesome and unprecedented incident caused an uproar in Greece at the time.

The verdict was consistent with a prosecutor’s recommendation, as the latter stressed that such an incident was unheard of on Crete. He also stressed that the photos of the young victim caused outrage and anger in the community.

“The unfortunate child was tortured by the two defendants and there is no doubt that both intentionally wanted to get rid of Thanasis, and caused his death,” the prosecutor stated.