Ukrainian Oksana Makar Dies After She Was Raped, Strangled, Burnt

Oksana Makar

Ukrainian 18-year-old woman Oksana Makar on Thursday died in the hospital after being raped, half strangled and set on fire by a gang of three men who dumped her then in a deserted place where she was found by motorist and taken to a hospital.

The scandalous crime caused hundreds of people to protest in the southern city of Mykolayiv, who took it to the streets after two of the criminals were released by the police because of the high political connections their families had, bringing into discussion once more the corrupted society of the ex-Soviet republic.

The two men were re-arrested and the police was disciplined after the president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, intervened. The president of the country sent an investigation team to Mykolayiv, to investigate the heinous crime. The three young men were charged with rape and one of them with attempted murder.

The Ukrainian interior minister confirmed earlier in the month that at least the parents of one of the accused were former governors of the province where the crime was committed.

Ukrainian media has documented many cases when the children of the wealthy elite benefit from the impunity that comes with the high position of their parents, a practice that is common to all ex-Soviet countries or to corrupted countries in the eastern Europe. Many times, these wealthy youths get away with traffic offences, including fatal accidents while driving.

Two of the suspects are Maxim Prisyjnikov, 23, son of a regional administrator, and Artyon Pogosyan, 21, son of a regional prosecutor. Local media said that the young woman met two of the youths in a bar on March 10, and after spending some time with them at the bar accompanied them to the flat of the third.

There she was raped and one of the men attempted to strangle her with a cord. They allegedly wrapped her in a blanket, took her to a pit at a construction site, and there set her on fire.

She was found by passing motorist who heard her moaning, and was taken to hospital with serious burns. She recounts that she had thought he had died, because she could not feel her body. She said she had cried for help but there was no one to hear. She then prayed.

At the hospital she had both arms and a hand amputated. On Thursday, a lung bleeding began and then her heart stopped.

The case has sparked a vivid interest in the Ukrainian society, and the death penalty was requested for the three accused, one member of the parliament suggesting that the alleged rapists be castrated. Oksana Makar made the same comment when asked what penalty did she want for her aggressors.11