Liana Sarkisova, mother-in-law to 20-year-old Zaruhi Petrosyan, who died at the Erebuni hospital on October 1 after being beaten by her husband Yanis Sarkisov, a contract serviceman of the peacekeeping regiment, believes herself to be the only victim of this tragic story.

The staff of www.hra.am decided to carry out independent journalist investigation first of all with the view of revealing the psychology of the murder. To make the investigation objective a decision was made to listen to the opinion of all target groups - legal successor of the victim (her sister), neighbors, mother-in-law, relatives, doctor that provided first medical aid, investigator of the case and all those who were somehow aware of the details of this case.

"I am the victim in all this case. She came and enjoyed herself, ruined my home, and I was left without anything. What a damned [girl] my "idiot, ass" son brought to my house! One should know where to bring a girl from. You brought her and what did you do? You ruined my home," mother-in-law of the 20-year-old girl says blaming her son with unconcealed anger and aggression for bringing Zaruhi to her house, and blaming Zaruhi for dying. She believes that Zaruhi's death "ruined her home" since she is being "discredited" in internet because of that death.

Zaruhi's sister, Hasmik, says relations between Zaruhi and her mother-in-law were bad from the very beginning. Lilia Sarkisova was against bringing a girl from children's house to her home. Neighbors too have noticed the difference in her attitude to the wife of the other son.

"She treated her other daughter-in-law very well. This one was from children's house, you could beat her to death, this one had no one to protect her," they said.  

Liana Sarkisova herself does not hide it; she considers her biggest mistake accepting Zaruhi in her house and her next mistake "not subduing" the girl.

"I was a fool, I told her to go and study. Clever people tell the daughter-in-law "to work like a mule at home", they don't say "Dress up and go out to show yourself." People are right - they bring the daughter-in-law to their house and subdue her," she says with indignation.

Zaruhi's mother-in-law excludes the conflict at home: "No, he loved her so much, my son loved her, and for him I ..." She would then continue: " Well, I don't know about a conflict. If for example the man goes to work in the morning, the wife has to get up in the evening, iron the clothes and prepare it for him. She would wake up in the morning, iron the pants like this (she would show with her hands ridiculing her) and give it to him. She was inattentive and untidy."

Shoghik, Zaruhi's aunt and their neighbor says "there were conflicts in that family every day."

"They kept her oppressed all the time, every day the mother-in-law and the husband would beat her, she would go to her classes in bruises," she says.

Zaruhi's close friend (who wants to stay anonymous) says the beatings started this March when "Yanis demanded money from Zaruhi and then regularly would turn her out of the house." The day before the girl's death the husband again "beat and turned her out of the house"; she had been living with one of her she-friends for 3-4 days. Her friend says her finger was already broken but not even bandaged, "one side of her face was swollen like a balloon and in bruises" because of beatings. 

Neighbors too were aware of Zaruhi's family problems; they tell everything in whispers but do not testify to the investigator "justifying" themselves that they "did not witness and know anything." Even Zaruhi's aunt Shoghik, who tells about Zaruhi's daily beatings and bruises, refuses to testify.

"I haven't testified. If I don't know how can I testify? I was not present, I didn't know. The investigator  came, we just talked. I don't want to testify," she says and tells us to talk to others.   

As for Zaruhi Petrosyan's moral make-up, that her mother-in-law has doubts about, the neighbors have a "real, accurate, brief, 100%" answer - "she was an excellent, humble, meek, "brilliant" girl" unlike her husband who, according to Zaruhi's close she-friend, was "a wanton guy".

Neighbeors characterised Yanis as a "very nervous, very rude" person; some called him "lascivious."

"He was insane without a paper," Zaruhi's aunt Shoghik says. Zaruhi's friend insists he was "a very normal guy, and if someone presents him as abnormal, it means they want him to escape punishment for the excuse of being "mentally sick." 

Zaruhi's sister too confirms Yanis was absolutely normal:

"If the mother-in-law did not interfere, they understood each other, they would talk and share, but the mother-in-law always made Yanis beat my sister. She would urge him: "Beat her, she is not from a good house. You have to beat her to make her a girl of a good house," she says. 

Hasmik thinks that her sister's mother-in-law is also an accomplice since she too regularly beat her. However Lilia Sarkisova is not involved in the case as an accused.  

"You can't charge a person with accusations taken from papers. There have to be witnesses, people to testify," investigator Vahram Avanesyan says adding that "objective, unbiased and comprehensive investigation is being carried out; there should be no doubt about investigators or police."   

While Hasmik Petrosyan, who is recognized as Zaruhi Petrosyan's legal successor, intends to take guardianship over her sister's daughter, Lilia Sarkisova is concerned about the child's allowance that Zaruhi's sister will get if she becomes guardian to 1.8-year-old Lilia. And the child does not sleep well at night, in her grandmother's words she is very anxious, she misses [her mother]... 

When we met the child she was calling her "mom" all the time.

"I grew up without parents, I don't want my child to grow without a father. How can I divorce? What family has no fights? I will endure it," Zaruhi would always say during continuous family fights. "I will endure..."       

Anna Barseghyan

source: www.hra.am