Successful Russian pianist Natalia Strelchenko allegedly was strangled by her husband two years after he forced her to abort their child, according to the BBC.
Strelchenko’s husband, John Martin, also a musician, currently is on trial for murder. He denies having killed Natalia in August 2015 on their second wedding anniversary.
Julia Strelchenko, Natalia’s sister, testified before the court last week and provided some shocking information regarding the abuse her sister endured. She said Martin began abusing Natalia after he pushed her to have an abortion.
She explained Martin’s response to Natalia’s pregnancy, “As I know this, he left her because she got pregnant…He absolutely did not want to have this kid and they resumed the relationship after she did the abortion.”
After the abortion, Martin physically abused his wife, Julia Strelchenko told the court. She said her sister confided to her that Martin had attempted to strangle her and threw her on the pavement during an argument. Julia said she saw a scratch on Natalia’s face, bruises on her neck and bandages on her upper arm and hand. She said Martin was “quite controlling.”
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Natalia Strelchenko was discovered at her Newton Heath, England home during the early hours of August 30, 2015 with severe face and neck injuries, according to the report. An hour later she was pronounced dead, the report states. Strelchenko was a renowned pianist who had played all across the world, including at Carnegie Hall, according to the report.
This heartbreaking story is a somber reminder of the frequent link between abortion and domestic abuse. A study in the medical journal PSOL Medicine confirmed a connection between abuse and abortion, “Overall, the researchers’ findings support the concept that violence can lead to pregnancy and to subsequent termination of pregnancy, and that there may be a repetitive cycle of abuse and pregnancy.”
The study found that 25 percent of women getting abortions said they faced physical, sexual or emotional abuse beforehand.
