August 30, 2012

Two women were stabbed to death in a gruesome killing in Russia's Kazan, and ‘Free! Pussy Riot’ [sic] was painted on the wall in what police believe was the victims’ blood.

An elderly woman, Farida Zaripova, 76, and her daughter, Liliya Zaripova, 38, were murdered in their apartment in the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan. The victims’ bodies were discovered by their neighbors on Wednesday evening, though the women were most likely killed between August 24 and 26, investigators said. The women’s bodies “have been mutilated beyond recognition” by multiple stab wounds, Interfax cited a police source as saying.

“They’ve been killed very cruelly: the murderer stabbed each of them at least eight to ten times,” RIC spokesperson Andrey Sheptitskiy told Izvestia daily. “This has astounded our experts. We never saw anything like this before, it’s right out of a horror movie.”

A slogan was painted on the kitchen wall with what is alleged to be the victims’ blood. The Russian Investigative Committee (RIC) said the composition of the substance had not yet been confirmed. Detectives and forensic experts are currently combing the crime scene, and police have launched a criminal investigation into the killings.

Investigators say the motive behind the killings may be difficult to determine, which they speculate was connected to a robbery. It is highly unlikely the killings were committed by supporters of the punk band, though police will investigate any possible complicity in the double murder, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported.

Investigators say robbery was likely as a mess was left at the scene; all drawers were turned upside down. (Photo courtesy of Russian Investigative Committee)

The two women lived together, with the older woman mostly staying at home while her daughter worked at a grocery store nearby, Life News quoted neighbors as saying. Farida was cautious, and never opened the door for anyone she didn’t know, they said. Liliya also tried not to leave her mother alone for extended periods of time, since Farida was grieving the loss of her husband and son. The son died in a car crash several years ago, and the husband lost his life to cancer.

Nikolay Polozov, defense attorney for the convicted members of Pussy Riot, called the killings an “abominable and dirty provocation. … I regret that some bastards use Pussy Riot name for such goals,” he told Interfax on Thursday.

Three members of the protest collective were each sentenced to two years in jail for performing a ‘punk prayer’ against President Vladimir Putin at a Moscow cathedral in February.

Protests in support of Pussy Riot cropped up around the world in the wake of the August 17 verdict. The leader of Ukrainian activist group FEMEN used a chainsaw to cut down a cross in Kiev; four people wearing masks and carrying signs with pro-Pussy Riot slogans stormed Germany’s Cologne Cathedral and disturbed a service; four Orthodox Christian crosses were chopped down in different parts of Russia; and several statues in Moscow were “balaclavized” on the day of the verdict.

RT.com

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