The Family of a Victim of Domestic Violence Demand Justice

The family of Diana Nahapetyan, 35, who was stabbed by the husband three years ago, still cannot achieve justice and punishment for her husband Volodya Muradyan. On December 4, 2012 Diana Nahapetyan’s husband Volodya Muradyan killed his wife in front of her two teenage daughters. The husband stabbed Diana 21 times. A criminal case followed the same year.

At the Media Center hosted press conference Sona Hovakimyan, Program Coordinator at Society without Violence, NGO; Valya Nahapetyan, Diana’s mother; and Narine Mkrtchyan, representative of the successor of the offended party, spoke on the investigation and cases of domestic violence in the country.

 
Narine Mkrtchyan said the murder case has been converted into an atrocity following the lawyer-supported mediation since it was before underage children.  “Psychological and medical examinations were conducted which document Volodya Muradyan was not insane or driven by irresistible impulse. Later, a second examination was carried out by psychologist Elda Grin and the conclusion reads that Muradyan does not have any mental illness but at the moment of the murder he did not appreciate the nature or quality or wrongfulness of his act. Actually, this intends to decrease the punishment,” Mkrtchyan said. A plea for a third examination is now filed.

 
“A man who murdered a thirty-five-year-old young woman is now trying to get a minimal punishment. We hope the third examination will bring him to justice.”

 
A just verdict is what Diana Nahapetyan’s mother Valya Nahapetyan seeks.

 
“He must have the strictest punishment for what he did and not avoid it. I every day see two orphaned children who have not overcome the tragedy yet, and still remember how their mother was stabbed in front of them,” Nahapetyan said.

 
The number of deaths because of domestic violence has recently increased: 5 deaths were recorded in 2012, 7 and 11 in 2013 and 2014 respectively, Sona Hovakimyan said.

 
“There are not any mechanisms to prevent domestic violence, and there is no domestic violence law to tackle these issues. Society and violence perpetrators feel unpunished. Diana reported to the police several times but the police did not act to prevent the violence because they don’t have mechanisms to interfere and prevent,” Hovakimyan said.

 
Police officers and judges quite often have a biased and stereotype approach to victims, Hovakimyan said.

 
Domestic violence is not clearly defined and specified in the Armenian legislation, Narine Mkrtchyan added. Consequently, such murders are recorded as beating, murder or an act of violence.

 
“Despite all the things, we are determined to keep on struggling through legal means to get a strict punishment, fixed by the law, for Diana’s husband,” Mkrtchyan said.

Please follow the link to watch the video.

Source : Media Center