FLASH NEWS
The former minister beats to death his 31-year-old wife, mother of four children
2024-05-01 16:17:43 / BOTA
The murder trial of a former senior politician in Kazakhstan, who is accused of beating his wife to death, has captured the nation's attention, prompting calls for new legislation dealing with domestic violence. Shocking footage showing businessman Kuandyk Bishimbayev, Kazakhstan's former economy minister, beating his wife in a family restaurant has been broadcast online by the court.
The case has touched a public nerve as tens of thousands of people have signed petitions calling for new laws to hold those responsible for abuse accountable.
The trial of Bishimbayev, 44, is the first in the country to ever be broadcast online, making it easily accessible to Kazakhstan's 19 million people. The former politician was well-known, having been jailed for bribery in 2018. He served less than two years of his 10-year prison sentence before being pardoned. Bishimbayev was accused of torturing and killing his wife after her death last November.
For weeks, he maintained his innocence, but admitted last month in court that he had beaten her and "unintentionally" caused her death. Saltanat Nukenova, 31, was found dead in November in a restaurant owned by one of her husband's relatives.
Disturbing security footage shows the defendant, a father of four, dragging his wife by her hair and then punching and kicking her. A few hours after the incident, she died of brain trauma.
Bishimbayev's lawyers initially disputed medical evidence showing Ms Nukenova died from repeated blows to the head. They also portrayed him as prone to jealousy and violence, although no video from the restaurant's security cameras shown in court showed him attacking Bishimbayev.
Tens of thousands of people in the country have signed a petition calling for tougher measures against perpetrators of domestic violence following the tragic death of Ms Nukenova. The signatures resulted in senators passing a bill toughening spousal abuse laws last month, dubbed the "Sultanate Act."
Aitbek Amangeldy, Ms. Nukenova's brother and a key prosecution witness, told The Associated Press that he had no doubt that his sister's tragic fate had changed attitudes about domestic violence. "It changes people's minds when they see firsthand what it looks like when a person is tortured."
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