A woman believed to have been held as a sex slave for 14 years faced the man accused of kidnapping her and imprisoning her in his house of horrors in court today.
Vladimir Cheskidov is on trial for the kidnapping and rape of the woman, who is called Ekaterina, as well as the murder of another woman in her home in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region.
The ‘maniac’ is accused of holding Ekaterina captive with a wooden strap around her neck and of killing another woman, called Oksana, in 2011 or 2012, whom he also allegedly kidnapped and kept as a sex slave.
His dismembered bones were found at his premises in the town of Smolino, according to prosecutors’ evidence.
The trial is being held behind closed doors, but today Ekaterina, 34 years old and who was ‘kidnapped’ when she was 19, has given her testimony against Cheskidov in her first fleeting appearance in public since she escaped from the dungeon.
Vladimir Cheskidov is on trial for murder, kidnapping and rape in Chelyabinsk, Russia
When her captor emerged, Ekaterina, known as Katya, was forced to lie on the ground and wear a wooden head and neck restraint so that she could not escape.
The trial is being held behind closed doors, but today Ekaterina, 34 years old and who was ‘kidnapped’ when she was 19, has given her testimony against Cheskidov.
The remains of Oksana, aged around 30, were found in a cellar on the property and were cut up and boiled. The photo shows a room in the house.
She was released last year, reunited with her family and immediately told police about the ordeal she said she had faced.
She was raped “thousands of times” and kept in a narrow room behind two locked doors, one of them made of iron, with a metal window covering.
When her captor emerged, Ekaterina, known as Katya, was forced to lie on the ground and wear a homemade wooden head and neck restraint so she could not escape.
His arms and legs were tied to metal brackets attached to particle board in a crucifixion position, and his mouth was bandaged with duct tape so he could not call for help.
“It was impossible to escape from this trap because the sadist invented a special device where he placed the woman during his absence,” Russian state television reported.
A state investigator said: ‘Cheskidov used two sheets of chipboard with metal staples to fasten Ekaterina’s limbs.
‘He placed a wooden rope on his head (and neck).
“Then he bandaged her face and mouth so she couldn’t call for help.”
Ekaterina, now 34, fled captivity in Russia after 14 years and was allegedly kidnapped and tortured by Cheskidov.
Cheskidova and her mother Valentina lived together on the Smolina estate.
Pornographic images were taped to the walls of the makeshift prison.
Child dolls were found and investigators took multiple sex toys used to torture her, it is alleged.
Ekaterina was also allegedly forced to play chess with him.
Under her room, in a low-ceiling basement, the remains of the other woman were found, who was about 30 years old when she was murdered, according to evidence in the case.
Bones were reported to have been found in a “pot.”
Ekaterina had witnessed the other woman being killed in a barn owned by Cheskidov and had been threatened with the same fate if she disobeyed him, it was alleged.
Laptops and disks with pornographic content were confiscated from the house. In the photo an investigator appears searching the property.
It is alleged that Ekaterina B was held in the basement with a padlocked door.
The photo shows the outside area of the property where the women were held captive.
Ekaterina had witnessed the other woman being killed in a barn owned by Cheskidov. In the photo: property of the suspect.
Police believed that Cheskidov’s mother, Valentina, 73, who lived in the same house, was helping her son catch the women.
His legal case has been handled separately.
Today she declined to speak to Russian journalists about what was the first time she had been seen in public since escaping her alleged 14-year imprisonment.
Cheskidov stated today before the trial that he had been released.
He previously alleged that his relationship with her was one of “love.”
His mother stated: “She joined my son and lived like a queen…No one stayed with her.”
Cheskidov stated today before the trial that she had been released. He had previously claimed that his relationship with her was one of “love.”
Cheskidov appeared in court today for a custody hearing. He was found fit to appear in court after being held under armed guard in a psychiatric hospital.
Today the alleged kidnapper, rapist and murderer refused to apologize.
“I didn’t do anything,” he said. She refused to answer questions about rape and murder.
Her mother previously said: “Katya (Ekaterina) lived (with us) of her own free will.”
She stated: “All women are attracted to him. He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke and he is positive. Everyone needs men like that. He is a workaholic.”
Cheskidov faces life in a grim Russian penal colony if convicted.
He is currently in hospital and arrived for his trial by ambulance.
When the charges were presented to him in court, he responded: ‘I don’t agree. I don’t agree with anything at all.’