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The middle-aged wielded the hammer, the younger took the hunting knife, and the older pointed with the pepper spray. After suffering years of psychological and sexual abuse from his father, the Khachaturyan sisters murdered him in July 2018 at his home in Moscow. The trial of the case, which divided Russian society as it happened in the US with OJ Simpson, has started today in Moscow after completing the preliminary phase of the investigation.
Krestina, Angelina and Maria Khachaturyan are for some the face of revenge. For others, that of victims of domestic violence. At the time of the crime they were 19, 18 and 17 years old . The three made the decision to kill him when he returned from the psychiatric hospital and was about to celebrate with a new attack . He abused them because of the poor condition of the house and sprayed pepper spray on their faces, according to the version of the girls' lawyers. Krestina, who has asthma, passed out.
That night, they decided that the question was to kill or die. So they would kill their father . They used a knife, a hammer, and the same pepper spray that he had used against them. They then inflicted wounds on themselves in order to declare that their father had assaulted them with a knife, although they actually attacked him in his sleep. Then they called the police and an ambulance.
Authorities confirmed that the body of Mikhail Khachaturyan (57) had more than 30 knife wounds . But they also quickly discovered a long history of family violence. The father had dedicated himself to regularly beating his daughters, torturing, locking them up and sexually abusing them .
During the investigation, a video of the repeated mistreatment of the Khachaturian sisters was broadcast. Mikhail Khachaturyan screams, beats her daughters in disaster, and films it all. "And they still complain . " "Turn around, monster!"
"I'll hit you for everything, I'll kill you," says a text message from April 2018. In it, her father accused them of having sex with a friend. "You are prostitutes and you will die as prostitutes . "
The mother of the sisters, who for years also suffered beatings and abuse by Mikhail Khachaturyan, unsuccessfully asked the police for help years earlier. During the trial, she explained that Mikhail kicked her out of the apartment in 2015.
DEFENSE OR REVENGE
Last summer, the sisters were charged with premeditated murder . This sparked debates and also protests from human rights activists, who pointed out that the sisters were actually victims, as they had no means of obtaining help within their reach . In Russia there are hardly any laws that protect victims of domestic violence, where in many cases it is seen as a "family problem". In fact, the neighbors had repeatedly notified the police . All calls were in vain.
If found guilty, the sisters face up to 20 years in prison . The two older sisters, Krestina and Angelina , are to be judged together. Maria , who was a minor at the time of the murder but charged after turning 18, has been deemed mentally incapable of committing murder.
Prosecutors believe that the murder of Mikhail Khachaturyan was clearly premeditated. First, because he was asleep. And especially because the sisters coordinated the attack , stealing the knife that morning.
The sisters' attorneys say the murder was actually in self-defense. The Russian Penal Code allows self-defense not only in situations of immediate aggression, but also in cases of "continuous crime" , such as the one carried out by the wicked Mikhail since at least 2014.
A 2019 survey by the independent pollster Levada Center showed that 47% of Russian women and 33% of men believed that the actions of the Khachaturyan sisters were justified.
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