Prosecution Asks for Acquittal of Mrs. Ivannikov

The state prosecutor in the case of Mrs. Alexandra Ivannikov, resident of Moscow, charged with the murder of a driver who attempted to rape her, has withdrawn the charge. Journalists were told at the Lublino Court in Moscow that the prosecutor had asked for the case to be discontinued and A. Ivannikov to be acquitted as, in his opinion, she had been in a state of essential self-defense.

As earlier reported, about 18 months ago A. Ivannikov waved down, late at night, a passing car driven by a certain Segei Bagdasarian and asked him to take her home, for an agreed charge. Once she got inside the car, S. Bagdasarian tried, by force and threats, to make the young woman provide sexual services to him. The young woman, seizing an opportunity, struck him in the leg with a kitchen knife and hit the femoral artery. S. Bagdasarian died of blood loss.

A. Ivannikov herself called the ambulance and militia. The medical personnel and militiamen who arrived at the scene found the car engine working, the driver's door locked and the man himself seated inside with his pants down.