Russian sisters who killed their father for sexually abusing them, to face trial

In spite of an outcry, Russian investigators on Tuesday December 3 announced that two out of the three sisters who killed their father after years of allegedly being subjected to sexual abuse will be facing murder charges.

Krestina, Angelina and Maria Khachaturyan were 19, 18 and 17 when they killed their father Mikhail with pepper spray, a knife and a hammer while he was sleeping in July 2018, after years of allegedly being subjected to physical and sexual assault. 

Though more than 364,000 people signed a petition earlier this year demanding the three women be fully acquitted of any crime, the Russian Investigative Committee which handles major crimes said it had completed its investigation and recommended that two of the sisters be tried for premeditated murder which carries a jail term of between 8 and 20 years.

The committee insisted that the two older sisters were of sound mind and aware of their actions at the time of the attack, countering claims of lawyers and activists who said the teenagers were forced to act to save their own lives.  The youngest sister, Maria is to be taken into mandatory psychiatric care. 

This is coming after the European Court of Human Rights revealed that Russian legislation does not define or mention domestic violence as a separate offense or aggravating element in other offences.