Katherine Russell, Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s Widow, Defies Strict Muslim Rules

Katherine Russell, the widow of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has begun to reject some of the more strict Muslim rules that Tsarnaev had forced her to observe during their marriage.

Russell, 24, now dines at fast food restaurants like Chipotle and wears nail polish – two things that Tsarnaev would have forbidden were he still alive, reported the New York Daily News. She had converted to Islam after becoming pregnant by the alleged terrorist and dropping out of college at Suffolk University to marry him.

Back in April, immediately following the tragic bombing at the annual Boston Marathon, much focus was placed on the young widow. It soon came to light that Russell was both emotionally and physically abused by Tsarnaev from the beginning of their courtship, according to her former college roommates. He would call her a “slut” and a “prostitute” when she defied him, and would sometimes become so angry that he’d throw things at her.

Russell, who was raised Catholic, has been described by those who knew her prior to meeting her would-be husband as an average suburban teen with a happy-go-lucky attitude. “She was just this All-American girl who was brainwashed by her super-religious husband,” an old friend of hers told the MailOnline. “Nobody understands what happened to her. None of us would have dreamed that she would marry so young or drop out of college and have a baby or convert or be part of any of what’s happened.”

Through her lawyer Amato DeLuco, Russell has maintained that she knew nothing about her late husband and imprisoned brother-in-law Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s plans to set off bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15. The bombing took the lives of 3 individuals and injured over 250 others. In the early morning of April 19, the elder Tsarnaev died in a firefight with police.

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