Maniac' who 'raped sex slave in sordid dungeon over 14 years' bursts into tears in Russian court as he says it was 'all for LOVE'

Maniac' who 'raped sex slave in sordid dungeon over 14 years' bursts into tears in Russian court as he says it was 'all for LOVE' - as his mother who faces kidnap charge screams that victim 'lived like a queen'

A 'maniac' who kept a 'sex slave' in a 'dungeon' for 14 years and 'raped her more than a thousand times' burst into tears in a Russian court today as he claimed it was 'for love' and 'consensual'.

Vladimir Cheskidov, 51, allegedly held a 19-year-old captive at his home in Smolina, Chelyabinsk region, where he lived with his mother. He is also facing a murder charge relating to another woman.

Ekaterina B, whose full identity has not been disclosed, claimed she had been raped repeatedly before escaping 14 years later aged 33.
His mother Valentina Cheskidova, 72, faces up to 15 years in prison for being complicit in the kidnapping, according to Russian law enforcement. She was today bailed by the court and faces travel restrictions.

Speaking today she refuted claims that her son had mistreated Ekaterina, telling reporters from the dock that she had lived with them voluntarily.

'She joined my son and lived like a queen. No-one kept her. She lived [with us] at her own free will,' she said.

'We have all the doors open [in the house] - come in, run away. Every day it was like this.'

Cheskidov, 51, also faces a criminal investigation into the murder of another woman he held in the house in 2011. The chopped-up and boiled remains of Oksana, who was in her 30s, were found in a cellar at the property, the Russian Investigative Committee said. 

Cheskidov was declared fit to face court after earlier being held under armed guard in a psychiatric hospital.

He claimed he had a 'consensual' and 'loving' relationship with Ekaterina. When asked if he raped her, he replied 'no'.

Ekaterina claimed she was forced at knifepoint to help Cheskidov dismember and dispose of Oksana's corpse, according to the victim's testimony.

State investigators borrowed shovels from villagers and have been seen digging the grounds of the house the mother and son shared.

Russia's top detective Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, has taken personal control of the serious case.

Ekaterina broke free from the house after Cheskidov drank himself into delirium and Valentina, fearing for her life, called an ambulance for him.

He failed to padlock the 'dungeon' where he kept her, and she ran into the village, eventually finding her sister, Elena F, who had been looking for her for 14 years.

'She has begun to tell [me] everything', said the sister, according to reports in Russia.

How a man held her, tied her up, taped her hands, tied her up, sealed her mouth with tape.

'She said that [Vladimir] always had a knife [in his hands], and apparently, [any] step to the left, to the right [led] to punishment.

'There was another girl there [when she was first held aged 19].

'He introduced [that girl] as his wife. But then, I don't know what kind of conflict they had, he plunged a knife right into her head….'

The sister said that Cheskidov had told her: 'If you behave the same way, you will get the same [punishment].

'Then he dismembered her and she [Ekaterina] helped him.

'Remains, arms and legs, were packed in a barrel....to bury [them],' she said according to the 74.ru news website.

Ekaterina met the accused when she was 19 and offered her a drink at a railway station, she told her sister.

'Then he invited me home,' she said. 'And it all started there.'

When Vladimir went out he tied her up, fastened her to a beam and taped her mouth shut with duct tape, it is reported.

He freed her to do housework, and she was expected to clean, cook, and look after his mother - as well as provide him with sex.

The room where the woman was kept was equipped with various muzzles, according to local reports.

Laptops, and discs with pornographic content, were confiscated from the house. Sex toys used during the alleged torture sessions were also seized by police.

He forced her to drink vodka with him, and 'severely beat' her.

She had been from a 'troubled family' and while she had a sister, no other relatives were looking for her.

Cheskidov was described as a 'recluse' living with his mother, who at one time worked in a local psychiatric hospital.

In court the judge asked Cheskidov - who is officially registered as married - if he approved of his lawyer.

'I don't have money to pay,' he replied.

The judge explained that the court provided him with a lawyer. He also disagreed with a prosecution attempt to bar the media from the hearing due to sexually explicit evidence.