Russian school to study ‘domestic violence’ after grisly murder

MOSCOW: A university in Saint-Petersburg on Thursday launched a centre to study domestic violence after a professor murdered and dismembered his girlfriend, sparking criticism of the school.

The Saint Petersburg State University, a prestigious school in Russia´s second largest city, this week fired historian Oleg Sokolov after he confessed to chopping up his former student lover Anastasiya Yeshchenko and disposing of her body. It came under intense criticism from former students, who said the professor had a history of acting inappropriately and complaints were ignored, charges the school denied.