BY: Michelle Liew
The Russian government has been ordered to pay more than €370,000 (RM1.7million) in compensation to a woman who was a victim of domestic violence that left her hand amputated by her husband.
BBC reported that this comes after the European Court of Human Rights decision, stating that Russia had failed to fight domestic violence and ordered the country to pay compensation to four women who were brutally attacked.
One of them was Margarita Gracheva, who was kidnapped by her husband in 2017 before the man attacked her and slashed her hand with an axe. Her broken left hand however was re-stitched.
According to reports, the woman had already told the police about her husband’s aggressive behavior but his complaint was ignored by officers.
The court said Gracheva’s case showed how Russian law proves authorities failed to detect domestic abuse, until it escalated and caused physical injury.
The Russian government has started to take proactive steps to protect its citizens from falling in the hands of abusive partners or family members.
The ECHR is urging Russia to adopt a legal definition of domestic violence and to ensure that all perpetrators are criminalised.
To stop such attacks from happening in the future, the court told Russia it needed to make drastic changes to its current law.
