Epress.am News from Armenia
Murdered in August 2013 from repeated stab wounds, Lusine Davtyan on the way to the hospital on the day she died confessed that she was always afraid that the quarrels between her and her husband would end tragically one day.
Davtyan's daughter, 16-year-old Syuzy Arakelyan, during the hearing at the Armavir District Court of First Instance in Etchmiadzin on April 18, said she saw through an opaque glass how her father beat her mother. Though at the last court session, the accused, Arsen Arakelyan, claimed he stabbed his wife while "in an emotional state" and he wouldn't do what he did if his wife didn't provoke him, their daughter confirmed in court that the knife with which her mother was killed was in her father's pocket for a long time. This was conveyed to Epress.am by Lida Minasyan, the coordinator of the Rapid Response Unit of Society Without Violence, the NGO monitoring the case, who said that Syuzy Arakeylan's testimony complicates the defendant's situation, since the daughter essentially claimed that her mother forebode such an ending.
"I was always afraid of this," Davtyan said on the way to hospital, according to her daughter.
The defendant's uncle, Karapet Sargsyan, according to Lina Minasyan, implied that Lusine provoked the quarrel. He said that he saw through the door how Arsen was hitting his wife, and at that moment he burst into the room and grabbing Arsen from behind, he threw him on the bed. The witness said that Lusine's chest was covered in blood; meanwhile, in the testimony he gave during the preliminary investigation he said he didn't notice Arsen having a knife.
Recall, accused of murdering his wife, Arsen Arakelyan has admitted his guilt, insisting, however, that he stabbed his wife while "in an unstable mental state".
Relatives of the deceased claim that Lusine was preparing to divorce her husband; she had even moved out of the house, but immediately before the incident, upon her brother-in-law's request, she returned to Arsen's house — to talk.
Lusine's father, Ruben Davtyan, earlier said that over the years his son-in-law beat his daughter 3 times, whereas Lusine's close friend and neighbor told a different story: "There's simply a lot that Lusine didn't tell her parents, but she confided in me. Nearly every day Arsen scolded Lusine for some trifling reason or another. Say, she forgot to put the salt on the table or brought the knife or fork late — he would start a fight. It happened that in the dead of winter, he kicked her out of the house with the child in her arms; supposedly he was punishing her. He made Lusine stand on one leg in the corner for hours. From where should I begin?"