MOSCOW, September 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russian police have detained three young women, including a minor, suspected of beating a 26-year-old Siberian furniture maker with his own tools, and then robbing him, after the victim allegedly reneged on a promise to pay them about $150 for sex, police in the Siberian city of Irkutsk said Thursday.
The incident took place late Sunday after the four met at a sauna and went back to the man’s apartment for “an evening pleasantly spent” at an agreed upon cost of 5,000 rubles, regional police said in a statement on their website.
“Having consumed a large quantity of alcoholic beverages, the ‘night butterflies’ offered the man to play role games and tied him to a radiator,” the statement said. “Once they learned that the host did not intend to pay the promised fee, the guests began torturing the young man with whatever carpenter’s tools were handy,” the police said.
Afterward, the women left the apartment with all the alleged victim’s cash, a laptop computer, cell phones and leather jackets, according to the statement.
An un-narrated video posted on the police website showed blood stains smeared across the floor of an apartment and a hammer, drill and power cords strewn among them.
Three young women, presumably the suspects, and a young man with a bandaged head, presumably the victim, appeared on camera, giving evidence.
“[We] were in the apartment, took [his] things,” says one of the women. Asked about the aims of her visit, she smiles and says, “sexual.” Asked why she and her acquaintances had beaten the man, she laughs and says, “I don’t know. Alcohol, like I just said.”
A second woman confirms the meeting in the sauna and the agreement of 5,000 rubles for sex.
Police did not give either the women’s or the man’s names, but said two of the suspected perpetrators were 23 and one was 15, adding that one has a criminal record for car theft, while another “supports an underage child”; the 15-year-old is registered with local juvenile social services as a frequent runaway. The three face charges of robbery; if found guilty, the adult women could face up to 7 years in prison and 10,000 rubles or more in fines. Police also believe the elder two committed the offence of involving a minor in prostitution, which carries a punishment of up to 6 years in prison.
It was not immediately clear whether the man could face any charges. He had been hospitalized with stab wounds to the head and numerous signs of beating, police said, but judging by the video, has already been discharged.
