Two years ago, "The Moscow Times" ran a story about a Russian man identified as “Viktor,” who allegedly stormed into a hair salon in the town of Meshchovsk waving a pistol and demanding money.
The owner of the shop was a “delicate” 28-year-old woman by the name of Olga. When Viktor tried to take her money, Olga took him by surprise, punched him in the chest, and flipped him onto the ground. She had a black belt in martial arts.
Olga bound and gagged Viktor with a hair-dryer chord and dragged him into a storage room. She told the rest of the stunned employees that the police were on the way and instructed them to get back to work.
But when her workmates left for the day, the story seemingly took a peculiar turn.
Apparently Olga attached Viktor to the radiator with handcuffs covered in pink frills, force fed him Viagra, and repeatedly raped him. After two days of unrelenting sex slavery, Viktor was “squeezed like a lemon.”
Once Olga released Viktor he immediately went to the hospital to have his injured genitals nursed back to health. Then, he went to the police and filed a complaint asking that Olga be criminally charged. When Olga found out about his complaint, Life.ru quoted her as saying Viktor was a "jerk."
“Yeah there were a few times," she allegedly said. "But I bought him new jeans, gave him food and drink, and gave him 1,000 rubles when he left."
The next day, Olga filed a complaint against Viktor asking that he be brought up on criminal charges for the salon robbery.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen now" a police officer reportedly said. "We could put both of them behind bars: him for robbery, her for rape and assault”.
The Plot Thickens
Since "The Moscow Times" published the story in April 2009, it has gradually made its way around the world. News outlets that have picked it up include "The Daily Mail," "Slate," and various Russian papers.
Perez Hilton, the scandal-savvy American gossip columnist, furiously blogged about how “disgusting” the whole thing is. There's even a Facebook page called “Olga Zajac: The World’s Greatest Salon Owner” with more than 2,000 “likes”.
As the story circulates, it seems to grow. For instance, in "The Irish Independent’s" version, Olga kicked the robber in his privates in addition to punching and flipping him. It also has quoted Olga as saying she “wanted to teach him a lesson”. "The Daily Mail’s" version of the story included Olga and Viktor’s last names. All of these details aren’t in the original Moscow Times story.
Considering it's now been doing the rounds as "news" for two years, it's hard to say where "The Daily Mail" et al dug up these extra details.
According to "The Moscow Times," Life.ru, which originally posted the police complaints, has long been “setting the bar high for sensationalist scoops.”
Curiously, the original Life.ru link to the police complaints is now mysteriously dead.
-- Joanna Kinscherff
The owner of the shop was a “delicate” 28-year-old woman by the name of Olga. When Viktor tried to take her money, Olga took him by surprise, punched him in the chest, and flipped him onto the ground. She had a black belt in martial arts.
Olga bound and gagged Viktor with a hair-dryer chord and dragged him into a storage room. She told the rest of the stunned employees that the police were on the way and instructed them to get back to work.
But when her workmates left for the day, the story seemingly took a peculiar turn.
Apparently Olga attached Viktor to the radiator with handcuffs covered in pink frills, force fed him Viagra, and repeatedly raped him. After two days of unrelenting sex slavery, Viktor was “squeezed like a lemon.”
Once Olga released Viktor he immediately went to the hospital to have his injured genitals nursed back to health. Then, he went to the police and filed a complaint asking that Olga be criminally charged. When Olga found out about his complaint, Life.ru quoted her as saying Viktor was a "jerk."
“Yeah there were a few times," she allegedly said. "But I bought him new jeans, gave him food and drink, and gave him 1,000 rubles when he left."
The next day, Olga filed a complaint against Viktor asking that he be brought up on criminal charges for the salon robbery.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen now" a police officer reportedly said. "We could put both of them behind bars: him for robbery, her for rape and assault”.
The Plot Thickens
Since "The Moscow Times" published the story in April 2009, it has gradually made its way around the world. News outlets that have picked it up include "The Daily Mail," "Slate," and various Russian papers.
Perez Hilton, the scandal-savvy American gossip columnist, furiously blogged about how “disgusting” the whole thing is. There's even a Facebook page called “Olga Zajac: The World’s Greatest Salon Owner” with more than 2,000 “likes”.
As the story circulates, it seems to grow. For instance, in "The Irish Independent’s" version, Olga kicked the robber in his privates in addition to punching and flipping him. It also has quoted Olga as saying she “wanted to teach him a lesson”. "The Daily Mail’s" version of the story included Olga and Viktor’s last names. All of these details aren’t in the original Moscow Times story.
Considering it's now been doing the rounds as "news" for two years, it's hard to say where "The Daily Mail" et al dug up these extra details.
According to "The Moscow Times," Life.ru, which originally posted the police complaints, has long been “setting the bar high for sensationalist scoops.”
Curiously, the original Life.ru link to the police complaints is now mysteriously dead.
-- Joanna Kinscherff