A woman believed to have been held as a sex slave for 14 years today faced in court the man accused of kidnapping her and locking her in his house of horrors.
Vladimir Cheskidov is on trial for the kidnapping and rape of the woman, identified as Ekaterina, and for the murder of another woman at his home in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region.
The “maniac” is accused of holding Ekaterina captive in a wooden neck brace and in 2011 or 2012 of murdering another woman named Oksana, whom he also allegedly kidnapped and held as a sex slave.
According to evidence provided by prosecutors, her dismembered bones were found at his property in the village of Smolino.
The trial is being held behind closed doors, but today Ekaterina, now 34, who was ‘kidnapped’ at the age of 19, gave her testimony against Cheskidov in her first fleeting public appearance since escaping from the dungeon .
Vladimir Cheskidov is on trial for murder, kidnapping and rape in Chelyabinsk, Russia
When her captor went outside, Ekaterina, better known as Katya, was forced to lie on the ground and wear the homemade wooden head and neck restraint so she could not escape.
The trial is being held behind closed doors, but today Ekaterina, now 34, who was ‘kidnapped’ at the age of 19, gave her testimony against Cheskidov
The remains of Oksana, who was in her 30s, were found in a basement of the property and were dismembered and cooked. The photo shows a room in the house
Last year, she was released, reunited with her family, and immediately told police about the horrific ordeal she said she faced.
She was raped ‘thousands of times’ and held in a cramped room behind two closed doors, one of which was made of iron and had a metal window.
When her captor went outside, Ekaterina – known as Katya – was forced to lie on the ground and wear the homemade wooden head and neck restraint so she could not escape.
Her arms and legs were tied to metal braces attached 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, because the sadist invented a special device in which 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 secure Ekaterina’s limbs.
‘He put a wooden noose on her head [and neck].
‘Then he taped up her face and mouth so she couldn’t call for help.’
Ekaterina, now 34, fled captivity in Russia after 14 years and was reportedly abducted and tortured by Cheskidov
Cheskidova and his mother Valentina lived together on the Smolina estate
Pornographic images were taped to the wall of the makeshift prison.
Child dolls were found and detectives took several sex toys which they used to torture her, it was claimed.
It is said that Ekaterina also played chess with him.
Beneath her room in a low-ceilinged basement were found the remains of the other woman, who, according to evidence in the case, was in her 30s when she was killed.
Bones were said to have been found in a ‘saucepan’.
Ekaterina had witnessed the other woman being murdered in a shed owned by Cheskidov and had been threatened with the same fate if she disobeyed him, it was claimed.
Laptops and disks with pornographic content were seized from the home. The photo shows an investigator searching the property
It is alleged that Ekaterina B was kept in the basement with a door locked
The photo shows the outdoor area of the building where the women were held captive
Ekaterina had witnessed the other woman being murdered in a shed owned by Cheskidov. In the photo: the suspect’s property
Cheskidov’s mother Valentina, 73, who lived in the same house, was seen by police as helping her son entrap the women.
Her lawsuit was heard separately.
She refused to speak to Russian journalists today about what was the first time she has been seen in public since escaping her alleged 14-year incarceration.
Cheskidov claimed today, before the trial, that she was free to go.
He previously claimed 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 claimed today ahead of the trial that she was free to go. He previously claimed his relationship with her was one of ‘love’
Cheskidov appeared in court today for a custody hearing. He was declared fit to stand trial after previously 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. He refused to answer questions about rape and murder.
His mother previously said: ‘Katya [Ekaterina] lived [with us] of my own free will.”
She claimed: ‘All women are attracted to him. He is a non-drinker, non-smoker and positive. Everyone needs men like that. A workaholic.’
Cheskidov risks life in a grim Russian penal colony if convicted.
He is currently being treated in hospital and arrived for his trial by ambulance.
When the allegations were presented to him in court, he replied: ‘I don’t agree with them. I don’t agree with anything.’