A woman who is believed to have been held as a sex slave’ for 14 years has today confronted in court the man accused of abducting and imprisoning her in his house of horrors.
Vladimir Cheskidov is standing trial for the abduction and rape of the woman, who is called Ekaterina, as well as the murder of another woman at his home in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia.
The ‘maniac’ is accused of keeping Ekaterina captive in a wooden neck restraint and killing another woman, named Oksana, in 2011 or 2012, who he also allegedly abducted and held as a sex slave.
Her dismembered bones were found at his premises in Smolino village, according to evidence from prosecutors.
The trial is held behind closed doors but today Ekaterina, now 34, who was ‘kidnapped’ aged 19, gave her testimony against against Cheskidov as she fleetingly appeared in public for the first time since she escaped the dungeon.
Vladimir Cheskidov is standing trial for murder, abduction and rape in Chelyabinsk, Russia
When her captor went out, Ekaterina – known as Katya – had been forced to lie on the floor, and wear the homemade wooden head and neck restraint, so she could not escape
The trial is held behind closed doors but today Ekaterina, now 34, who was ‘kidnapped’ aged 19, gave her testimony against against Cheskidov
The remains of Oksana, who was in her 30s, were found in a cellar at the property and were chopped up and boiled. Pictured is a room in the house
She got free last year, reuniting with her family, and immediately told police of the horrific ordeal she said she faced.
She was raped ‘thousands of times’ and kept in a cramped room behind two locked doors, one of them iron, with metal covering the window.
When her captor went out, Ekaterina – known as Katya – had been forced to lie on the floor, and wear the homemade wooden head and neck restraint, so she could not escape.
Her arms and legs were tethered to metal brackets fixed to chipboard in a crucifixion position, and her mouth was taped so she could not call for help.
‘It was impossible to escape from this trap as the sadist invented a special device where he placed the woman during his absence,’ reported Russian state TV.
A state investigator said: ‘Cheskidov used two sheets of chipboard with metallic staples to harness Ekaterina’s limbs.
‘He placed wooden noose on her head [and neck].
‘Then he taped her face and mouth so that she could not call for help.’
Ekaterina, now 34, fled captivity in Russia after 14 years, and was allegedly kidnapped and tortured by Cheskidov
Cheskidova and his mother Valentina lived together at the Smolina property
Pornographic pictures were plastered across the wall of the makeshift prison.
Children’s dolls were found and investigators took away multiple sex toys used to torture her, it was alleged.
Ekaterina was also made to play chess with him, it is alleged.
Beneath her room in a low-ceilinged cellar were found the remains of the other woman, who was around 30 when she was killed, according to evidence in the case.
Bones were reported to have been found in a ‘saucepan’.
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 discs with pornographic content, were confiscated from the house. Pictured is an investigator searching the property
It is claimed that Ekaterina B was kept in the basement with a padlocked door
Pictured is the outdoor area of the property where the women were held captive
Ekaterina had witnessed the other woman being killed in a barn owned by Cheskidov. Pictured: The suspect’s property
Cheskidov’s mother Valentina, 73, who lived at the same house, was seen by police as aiding her son in trapping the women.
Her legal case has been treated separately.
She declined today to speak to Russian journalists on what was the first time she had been seen in public since escaping from her alleged 14 year incarceration.
Cheskidov today claimed ahead of the trial that she had been free to go.
He previously alleged his relationship with her was one of ‘love’.
His mother claimed: ‘She joined my son and lived like a queen… No-one kept her.’
Cheskidov today claimed ahead of the trial that she had been free to go. He previously alleged his relationship with her was one of ‘love’
Cheskidov has been seen today in court for a custody hearing. He was declared fit to face court after earlier being held under armed guard in a psychiatric hospital
Today the alleged abductor, rapist and murderer refused to apologise to her.
‘I didn’t do anything,’ he said. He refused to answer question on rape and murder.
His mother earlier said: ‘Katya [Ekaterina] lived [with us] on her own free will.’
She claimed: ‘All the women are drawn to him. He is a non-drinker, non-smoker, and positive. Everyone needs such men. A workaholic.’
Cheskidov faces life in a grim Russian penal colony if convicted.
He is currently under hospital care and arrived for his trial by ambulance.
When the charges were put to him in court he replied: ‘I don’t agree. I don’t agree with anything at all.’