They beat and stabbed their father after years of abuse and ‘systematic torture’
Three Russian teenagers
could be spared jail time after killing their abusive dad in 2018, following a psychiatric evaluation that suggests all three were suffering from PTSD at the time.
Krestina, Angelina and Maria Khachaturyan - 19, 18 and 17-years-old - were said to have been physically, mentally and sexually abused by their father, Mikhail Khachaturyan, for years. The evaluation claims they were in an "unstable" psychological state, feared for their lives and were acting in self-defence.
The sisters have been accused of lying by other family members, who claim that they killed the 57-year-old for his money and that any allegations of sexual abuse are false.
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Aurelia Dunduk - the girls' mother - backed claims of abuse and said that Mikhail kicked her out of their Moscow flat back in 2015 and was banned from seeing her children.
In a piece by The Guardian, she said she was forced to stay again her own will for some time, before eventually forcing her to leave: “He lost his temper, put a gun to my temple and told me: ‘I’m going to leave now, and if you’re still here when I’m back, I’ll kill you all,’”. She added that “He left none of us any choice, neither me nor my relatives.”
According to the Serbsky Institute of Psychological Psychiatric and Medical Examination, Mikhail would make death threats if his daughters did not follow his demands.
The eldest two sisters are currently facing murder charges - the youngest, Maria, was declared mentally unfit to stand trial - and face anywhere between eight and 20 years in prison.
More than 300,000 people have signed a petition calling for the release of three teenagers.
In addition to the psychological evaluation, the defence insists that the sisters were victims of "continuous crime" and should therefore be released. The sisters cannot currently speak to members of the media or to each other; meanwhile, many in Russia hope the case will be dropped and the girls given their lives back.
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