A heartbroken MOTHER of a politician’s murdered wife could not contain her emotions during the hearing of a case that shocked Kazakhstan.
Saltanat Nukenova, 31, died from brain trauma following a brutal 8-hour attack by her husband Kuandyk Bishimbayev, 44.
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Kazakhstan’s former Economy Minister was accused of torturing and killing his wife, despite attempts to maintain his innocence for several weeks.
Bishimbayev had previously been arrested for bribery in 2018, although he spent less than two years of his ten-year sentence in prison before being pardoned.
He finally admitted to beating his wife and “unintentionally” causing her death in court last month.
He described the painful details of the attack, but added: “I was clearly aware that no vital organ should be [be hurt].”
The former minister continued to deny guilt in the premeditated murder, saying: “The only thing I want to inform you is that there was no intention, no particular cruelty in this.”
During her testimony, Nukenova’s distressed mother screamed: “You beat her to death for several hours!
“I didn’t see my daughter, I didn’t bury her, I didn’t see her face.
“How did you hit her without too much cruelty?”
On the night of November 8, 2023, the politician had a fight with his wife in the Bau restaurant in Astana, which belongs to his relatives.
Disturbing CCTV footage showed the couple talking before father-of-four Bishimbayev grabbed his wife by the hair and dragged her from the scene.
According to Nukenova’s mother, she was tortured for eight hours in one of the VIP cabins where there are no security cameras.
The next day, Bishimbayev left his wife lying in the establishment while he went out on business.
He called an ambulance only at night, when he noticed that her body was cold – by which time Nukenova had already been dead for 6 to 8 hours.
Medical expertise revealed that the victim died slowly in agony.
According to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, restaurant staff were banned from calling emergency services.
Who is Kuandyk Bishimbayev?
KUANDYK Bishimbayev is currently on trial for the murder of his wife, after being accused of beating her to death.
But the businessman, who is also Kazakhstan’s former Minister of National Economy, is already well known to law enforcement authorities.
Bishimbayev, 44, was once seen as a fresh, Western-educated face of Kazakhstan’s government and a longtime “favorite” of former leader Nursultan Nazarbayev.
In 2018, however, he was arrested for bribery and placed in a maximum security penal system institution.
In February 219, he appealed for pardon and saw his sentence reduced to four years, before being pardoned less than two years after his initial ten-year sentence.
Bishimbayev was born in the city of Kyzyl-Orda (now Kyzylorda) in 1980.
In 2001, he earned a master’s degree in business administration from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. as part of the Bolashak scholarship.
In May 2016, he was appointed Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan following waves of unrest during protests against land reforms to replace Erbolat Dosaev.
He was eventually fired from his position on December 28, 2016.
Instruction was also given to erase CCTV footage under the pretext of technical failure.
In court, the politician stated that his wife had fallen face down into the toilet, hitting her head on the floor in a state of intoxication.
But the medical examination revealed that Nukenova did not have a large amount of alcohol in her system.
His lawyers also tried to portray Bishimbayev’s wife as prone to jealousy and violence.
This was despite there being no video from the restaurant’s security cameras played in court that showed her attacking Bishimbayev.
Furthermore, the woman’s neck showed traces of strangulation and her body had many scratches and bruises.
The court also found 12 videos, recorded by the former minister on his cell phone on the day of the horror ordeal, in which he can be heard insulting and swearing at the victim.
The judge also released correspondence from Bishimbayev’s phone, where he sent a message to a fortune teller instead of an ambulance to check on Nukenova’s condition, as she had not regained consciousness.
According to Nukenova’s brother, Aitbek Amangeldy, his sister made eight attempts to leave the relationship, but was blackmailed with intimate videos to stay.
Public outrage
The trial is the first of its kind to be broadcast online in Kazakhstan and easily accessible to its 19 million inhabitants.
As a result, Nukenova’s death captured the nation’s attention, sparking calls for new legislation to combat domestic violence.
Approximately 400 women in Kazakhstan lose their lives to domestic violence every year, although many of these incidents go unreported, according to a 2018 study supported by UN Women.
Tens of thousands of people have signed petitions calling for new laws to hold those guilty of abuse accountable.
Senators have since passed a bill toughening spousal abuse laws — dubbed “Saltanat’s Law.”
Nukenova’s brother, Aitbek Amangeldy, a key prosecution witness in the case, said he has no doubt that his sister’s tragic fate has changed attitudes toward domestic violence in Kazakhstan.
“People change their minds when they see directly what it’s like when a person is tortured,” he told the Associated Press.
During a court session on April 1, Bishimbayev apologized to Nukenova’s relatives for her death.
“It was always very difficult for me at first to realize her death,” he said, as reported by UNN.
“I want to apologize. I do not expect forgiveness, but it is my responsibility. I know this is an irreparable loss and I am complicit in the circumstances.”
Bishimbayev would then talk about his life with his murdered wife for almost five hours, without getting to the murder episode.
He then asked the court to postpone the hearing of this episode until the next session, referring to the fact that he was “tired of talking”.
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP:
Women’s Aid offers this advice to victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone close by.
- Contact charities for help, including Women’s Aid’s live chat helpline and services like SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarize yourself with the Silent Solution by reporting abuse without talking on the phone, instead dial “55”.
- Always keep some cash with you, including change for a pay phone or bus ticket.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try moving to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is an exit and access to a phone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid places where you could become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you could be locked in a closet or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic violence, the SupportLine is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends weekdays during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid offers a live chat service – available on weekdays from 8am to 6pm and on weekends from 10am to 6pm.
You can also call the free 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
