The brutal Russian husband who chopped off his wife’s hands with an axe faces up to ten years in jail after being declared mentally sane and fit to stand trial.
Dmitry Grachyov, 27, feared his wife Margarita was cheating on him and wanted revenge, he told a court.
Margarita today expressed relief that a court, after five hearings finally deprived Grachyov of his parental rights – which means he will never see his two young children again or play any role in their upbringing.
Dmitry Grachyov (above) appeared in court yesterday when he told how he wanted to take revenge on his wife for ‘being unfaithful’
Margarita (left) has been learning how to live with her new right hand. Margarita and Dmitry (right) before the attack
In December last year, he forced the 26-year-old mother-of-two into his car and drove her to a forest where he tied her up, forced her to kneel, and then severed her wrists with an axe.
Since then the woman has been hailed as an ‘inspiration’ in Russia after seeking to overcome her husband’s appalling medieval torture.
Her left hand was sewn back on by surgeons, and she now has a ‘robot’ right arm which she is learning to use.
Prosecutors also announced that he is to be charged with threatening his wife with murder, as well as kidnapping her, and causing her serious harm.
If convicted he could face up to ten years in jail.
Earlier, there were reports he would face lesser charges with a maximum of three years behind bars.
Margarita and her two sons have received unprecedented support from the local community
Margarita wants to get back to normal as soon as possible. She is pictured playing guitar with her bionic hand
Margarita is now trying to rebuild her life for both her and her two sons
Margarita is now learning to use her prosthetic arm. She said it’s difficult to take out some daily tasks such as picking up an apple
The move follows psychiatric tests which found he was fit to stand trial.
In the closed-session court in Serpukhov, he told the judge from an iron cage that he was a ‘loving father’.
But he claimed that for a month before he dismembered his wife he was ‘unable to think of anything else than the fact that she was unfaithful’.
He earlier confessed to chopping off her hands.
She was not in court but previously denied cheating on him, while admitting seeking a divorce because of his unreasonable behaviour.
Olga Rusiyan, Margarita’s lawyer, said her client was ‘happy’ that Grachyov – accused of threatening her in messages from his detention cell – had been deprived of his parental rights.
Margarita’s case shocked the world at the end of last year when the atrocious acts of her husband were revealed
Grachyova (left) confessed to carrying out the medieval-style attack because he suspected Margarita (right) had cheated on him
‘The rights of her children have been protected,’ she said.
Margarita has revealed how her husband was ‘totally calm’ when he axed her hands.
‘Unfortunately, I felt all the pain very much.
‘I was dreaming that I would faint.
‘I kept thinking all the time, why am I not fainting?
‘When he raised his axe, I just closed my eyes, I didn’t look at it…(when my hands were chopped off).’
She had earlier hit out at judges for refusing to strip her husband of his parental rights.
Her sons were ‘proud’ of her bionic arm, she said.
‘Mum you are like a robot,’ they like to repeat.
‘People on streets often turn their heads.
Margarita still faces new surgery on her left hand which she cannot use properly
‘Sometimes they come to wish me well.
‘Recently a man came and said: ‘Please can I shake your hand, you are an incredibly strong woman.’
‘Of course it helps me a lot to hear things like this.
She said: ‘I play bowling even though it’s not like with health hands.
‘I can’t lift a real full size ball.
‘My prosthetic hand is too fragile.
‘I still struggle with buttons and laces, but I had a tremendous victory over a zip.
‘I am learning to write with a pen.
‘It’s hard as pens are too thin to hold, so they keep sliding out. But I am stubborn, I’ll keep trying.
‘I want to be back to normal life and do something good and useful as soon as possible.’
She still faces new surgery on her left hand which she cannot use properly.
She thanked people from all over Russia who raised money to help her.
‘I want to say thank you, again and again to them all,’ she said.
‘If I didn’t have this money my life would have been completely different. ‘