Mother burned 13-year-old daughter's rapist alive after his sick taunts when released

A heartbroken mother was given a prison sentence after she set her daughter's rapist on fire following his release from jail .

Spanish woman Maria del Carmen Garcia's daughter Veronica was just 13 years old when she was sexually assaulted at knifepoint by her neighbour Antonio Cosme in 1998. The perpetrator was sentenced to nine years in prison for the crime but in June 2005 he was on day release when he approached Maria at a bus stop near her home outside of Alicante.

Cosme showed no regret for his horrifying crime and even taunted Maria as he asked "how her daughter was" . Cosme then went into a local bar Maria's family frequented.

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In the meantime, Maria, who had been left feeling a mix of anger, fear and hysteria over his question, went to a nearby petrol station and bought a container of fuel.

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She entered the bar Cosme was at, poured the petrol over his head and set her daughter's rapist on fire. Cosme suffered burns over 90% of his body and died in hospital days later.

Maria was reportedly found wandering around the port on the evening of the killing and confessed. She claimed she'd intended to scare or severely injure him to give him an idea of what he put her daughter through.

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Maria was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years in jail for the killing, which was later reduced to five-and-a-half years on appeal. The mother's case garnered sympathy from across the country and there was a huge effort to keep her out of prison.

Thousands signed petitions, medical records revealed her battle with severe depression and anxiety, numerous appeals were lodged, and there was even a plea for her inclusion in Spain's Easter clemency list.

In 2011, having served one year and 10 days behind bars, a court suspended her sentence pending a pardon application, citing "special circumstances" and noting her clean record and insanity plea at the time of the crime.

Yet, in 2013 Maria was back in jail after the Alicante high court dismissed her lawyer's request to halt her imprisonment when the Spanish government refused her partial pardon plea. Come 2017, Maria could leave prison daily from 11am to 7pm, leading up to her 2018 release.