In the horror house of a Russian “madman” where he “raped a sex slave thousands of times for 14 years and locked her in a wooden collar”

• Vladimir Cheskidov, 51, is on trial for murder, kidnapping and rape

A woman who was allegedly kept as a sex slave for 14 years appeared in court today to face the man accused of kidnapping her and holding her captive in his haunted house.

Vladimir Cheskidov is on trial for the kidnapping and rape of a woman named Ekaterina and the murder of another woman in his home in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region.

The “madman” is accused of keeping Ekaterina captive in a wooden collar and of killing another woman named Oksana in 2011 or 2012, whom he is also said to have abducted and kept as a sex slave.

According to the prosecution’s evidence, her dismembered bones were found on his estate in the village of Smolino.

The trial is taking place behind closed doors, but today Ekaterina, now 34, who was “kidnapped” at the age of 19, gave her testimony against Cheskidov, making her first fleeting public appearance since escaping from prison.

She was released last year, reunited with her family and immediately told police about the horrific ordeal she said she had endured.

She was raped “thousands of times” and held in a small room behind two locked doors, one of which was made of iron and the window was covered with metal.

When her kidnapper left the house, Ekaterina – called Katya – had to lie on the floor and wear the homemade wooden head and neck shackles so that she could not escape.

Her arms and legs were tied to metal clamps attached to particle board in a crucifixion position, and her mouth was taped shut so she could not call for help.

“It was impossible to escape this trap because the sadist had invented a special device in which he placed the woman during his absence,” Russian state television reported.

A state investigator said: “Cheskidov used two pieces of chipboard with metal staples to bind Ekaterina’s limbs.”

“He put a wooden noose around her head (and neck).

“Then he taped her face and mouth so she couldn’t call for help.”

The walls of the makeshift prison were covered with pornographic images.

Children’s dolls were found and investigators confiscated several sex toys that she had used to torture them, it was said.

It is alleged that Ekaterina was also forced to play chess with him.

Beneath her room in a low-ceilinged basement were found the remains of the other woman, who, according to evidence in the case, was about 30 years old when she was killed.

Bones were reportedly found in a “cooking pot.”

It was alleged that Ekaterina witnessed the other woman being killed in a barn by Cheskidov and was threatened with the same fate if she disobeyed him.

Police found that Cheskidov’s mother, Valentina (73), who lived in the same house, helped her son trap the women.

Her legal case was handled separately.

She today declined to speak to Russian journalists about the incident, which marked the first time she was seen in public since being released from her alleged 14-year detention.

Cheskidov stated today ahead of the trial that she had been free.

He had previously claimed that his relationship with her was a “love relationship.”

His mother claimed: “She joined my son and lived like a queen… No one kept her.”

Today, the alleged kidnapper, rapist and murderer refused to apologize to her.

“I didn’t do anything,” he said. He did not want to answer questions about rape and murder.

His mother previously said: “Katya (Ekaterina) lived (with us) of her own free will.”

She claimed: “All women are attracted to him. He is a non-drinker, non-smoker and positive. Everyone needs men like that. A workaholic.”

If convicted, Cheskidov faces a life sentence in a grim Russian penal colony.

He is currently receiving hospital treatment and arrived at his court hearing by ambulance.

When the charges were presented to him in court, he replied: “I don’t agree with that. I don’t agree with anything.”