The cases showcased on Tuesdays this month have been about abuse within families. Sadly this is something that is more common that not, and it seems that the laws protect the abuser and not the victims. Today is a case that is within the last decade and one that seems to have followed the trend of protecting the abuser and neglecting the real victims.
In 1996, 17 year old, Aurelia Dunduk met her future husband three years after moving to Moscow. At nineteen years old, pregnant with their son Sergei, Aurelia was beaten and then she and Mikhail Khachaturian, who was 36, went and got married. During their married life, in front of family and friends, Mikhail would beat her, sometimes bloody, and then ask her to make him some tea. His family had agreed with his views and claimed that Aurelia should suffer the beatings.
It wasn’t just his wife that suffered at his hands, their son, Sergei was beaten regularly by his father, for “educational purposes”. After the boy had graduated from eighth grade he was kicked out of the house. He slept on the streets for a few weeks before being taken in by a friend. In 2015, Aurelia was forced to leave the house, fearing for her life. She stayed with friends for several weeks, but then returned to her mother’s home in Moldova. A year later she was back in Moscow.
However, Aurelia didn’t know about the violence that was continuing at the home where her estranged husband and three daughters lived. The girls had very limited contact with their mother and told her nothing of the violence so as not to upset her. Sadly friends, relatives, some school officials, even the police, knew of the abuse to a degree and because of Mikhail’s friendship with the police, nothing was ever done to protect the three girls.
July 27, 2018, the daughters, Krestina (19), Angelina (18), and Maria (17) were at home, as they always were. Their father rarely let them leave the apartment they shared with him. He was out of the house at a psychiatric appointment. Upon returning home he noticed they had eaten some candy and the wrappers were on a table. This infuriated him.
Mikhail had the girls come into the room where he was sitting, one at a time, he would then spray them with pepper spray. Krestina, the oldest, had asthma and fainted from the attack. The younger two sisters decided that they had to end the reign of terror they lived under and planned to kill their father. Luckily their sister was alive, they had nearly lost her two years prior when she had attempted to commit suicide after being forced to perform oral sex on their father.
After their father had fallen asleep in his chair, the girls attacked him with a hunting knife and a hammer. Krestina, heard the commotion when she regained consciousness and helped her sisters. She used the same pepper spray he had used on them to attack him. Mikhail had attempted to defend himself, but the girls stabbed him multiple times, eventually a knife to the heart ended his tyrannical rule. The sisters called the paramedics but he was dead when they arrived. The next day the three Khachaturian Sisters were arrested.
The abuse the girls endured ranges from beatings, to humiliation, to being forced to undress in front of their father and be “checked”. The girls were also raped for not cleaning the house well enough. All of the girls had been examined after the murder and all showed signs of sexual abuse. They lived as slaves and were required to respond to the ringing of a bell at anytime, day or night. Mikhail has been quoted as saying to one of the girls, “You will take the place of your mother. I will marry you and you will give birth to my baby.” He also ordered all three to help cure him of prostate problems, by masturbating him.
What’s even more despicable is that Mikhail’s family all supported him and how he raised his family. They believe that the three girls are making up all the abuse allegations to get away with murder and to get their hands on his money. The girls have all waived their rights to any inheritance, and want nothing from their father’s estate. Their grandmother has even cancelled Krestina’s registration from the apartment. In Russia, registration records the address and internal migration of citizens.
Krestina and Angelina were both facing prison terms of 20 years to life. Maria because she was a minor when the crime occurred would face ten years in prison. The girls have said being in prison is better than living with their father and the abuse he inflicted on them daily.
The charges against all three Khachaturian sisters were dropped. It was deemed that their actions were, “carried out within the framework of the law necessary for self-defense.”
Krestina, Angelina, and Maria, have all been identified as victims of their father’s abuse, and he will posthumously be charged as a pedophile. Thus preventing any further charges against the sisters.
That my friends is the rather brief, and sordid tale of the Khachaturian sisters. I hope that they are able to heal from this ordeal and live normally as possible in the future.
Be strong, make good choices, stay safe
Amateur Connoisseur 