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The Moscow court has granted a request to hand the case of the two elder Khachaturian sisters who killed their abusive father back to a prosecutor's office, a lawyer told Sputnik news agency. 

The plaintiff's legal team filed the request on Friday, arguing that the indictment incorrectly determines the crime's motive as "violent actions of the father." The defense also sought to return the case to prosecutors, insisting that the girls acted in "necessary self-defense." The prosecutor objected to both motions.

Late Mikhail Khachaturian's relatives earlier asked to open a criminal case against the deceased, which they hope would help reject allegations of him physically and sexually abusing his daughters.

It is reminded that in July 2018, the three sisters, Krestina, 19, Angelina, 18, and Maria, 17, killed their father in his sleep in their apartment in Moscow. The high-profile case has provoked intense public scrutiny and discussion in Russia. The sisters have been charged with premeditated murder, while the defense claims that they acted in self-defense, as their father had physically and psychologically abused them, which has been confirmed by investigators.

The girls were initially put in a pre-trial detention facility, but then were released under house arrest. 

The two elder siblings, Krestina and Angelina, are facing from eight to 20 years in prison, while Maria is facing admittance into a mental ward instead of prison, as she was determined to have been criminally insane at the moment of the crime.