mobanmarketMOSCOW: Investigators said Tuesday that two sisters who killed their father after years of abuse should face murder charges in a case highlighting Russia’s dire record on domestic violence.
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Three Russian sisters – Krestina, Angelina and Maria Khachaturyan – stabbed their father Mikhail to death in July, 2018 after suffering years of beatings and sexual assault.
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They were 17, 18 and 19 at the time.
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Russia’s Investigate Committee said in a statement on Tuesday that it had completed a probe into the killing and was recommending charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder against the two older sisters, Krestina and Angelina.
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The probe established that the sisters, acting as a group, stabbed their father with a knife and beat him with a hammer, causing fatal injuries.
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It pointed to “mitigating circumstances” but said the two older sisters were of sound mind and aware of their actions at the time of the attack.
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They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Investigators recommended that the youngest sister, Maria, should enter mandatory psychiatric care.
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Lawyers and activists say the teenagers were forced to act to save their own lives, pointing to poor legal protections for abuse victims in a country where a separate law on domestic violence still does not exist.
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Mari Davtyan, a lawyer for Angelina, told AFP the case should not go to trial in its current form.
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She said the sisters “used reasonable force in self-defence”.
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The Morning and Evening Brief###
The Morning and Evening Brief