Russian scholar accused in gruesome murder of student appears in court

A Russian scholar, who is accused of killing his lover in one of the most gruesome manners, appeared at St. Petersburg court on November 11. Named Oleg Sokolov, the suspect is a historian and professor at St. Petersburg State University who was caught by the police on Sunday while trying to dispose of several body parts and a nonlethal handgun which he brought in a backpack in the Moika River in Saint Petersburg. The murdered woman has been identified as Anastasia Yushchenko who was the scholar's former student and a supposed lover. Yeshchenko's dismembered body parts were later found in Sokolov's apartment after a search informed officials to media. As per reports, he has now been sent to Kresty, a pre-trial detention center, for two months until next hearing

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"I repent deeply," said the 63-year-old professor at the court hearing reported the local media.

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Victim and accused lived together for 5 years

Speaking more about his young lover who was just 24-year-old he said that "I considered her a bride and told my friends that I was going to marry her". He described further saying that the murder was a result of the two getting into an argument over his children from a different marriage. Sokolov also informed that he had lived with the victim for the past 5 years. As per a news agency, Yushchenko was a native of the southern Russian city of Krasnodar who came to study in St. Petersburg and had continued to work with Sokolov as a researcher. Some reports claim that Sokolov treated his other students in a similar manner, beating them, which is being investigated by policemen. 

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The accused is a professor

The scholar is considered a specialist in the military history of France and works as a professor at St. Petersburg State University's Department of Modern and Contemporary History. Sokolov had been a consultant of film and TV shows and was seen being dressed in uniforms of the Napoleonic era. The murder suspect is a member of the French-based Institute of Social Science, Economics and Politics (ISSEP), an academic institution founded by Marion Marechal, the niece of Marine le Pen, France's far-right National Rally party leader. Following the revelations at the court and the case against him, the institution announced that it had stripped Sokolov of his position on its scientific committee. 

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(With inputs from ANI)