A St. Petersburg resident was placed in a psychiatric ward after he attempted to exorcize the Devil from his wife by stabbing her with knives and a screwdriver, city prosecutors said on Thursday.
The failed exorcism was triggered by a family argument, but was apparently anticipated because the suspect, Yury Simakov, prepared the knives beforehand, the prosecutors said on their website.
After getting into an argument with his wife in their apartment in southwestern St. Petersburt, Simakov stuck three knives into her vital organs, the report said.
He then removed all her jewelry and completed the ritual by sticking a screwdriver into the woman’s head.
Simakov expected the wounds would heal by themselves, but they killed the woman instead, the prosecutors said.
The man then left the apartment and went running around the neighborhood naked. He was apprehended by police and later placed into an asylum by court order.
A case was opened into the incident, which took place last week, but was not reported before.
