A POLITICIAN has sparked outrage in Kazakhstan after he was seen beating his wife to death on CCTV in a horrific eight-hour attack.
Shocking footage showed businessman Kuandyk Bishimbayev, 44, punching and kicking Saltanat Nukenova, 31, in a family restaurant in November 2023.
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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.
He finally admitted in court to hitting his wife and “unintentionally” causing her death last month.
Bishimbayev had previously been jailed for bribery in 2018, although he spent less than two years of his ten-year sentence in prison before being pardoned.
Nukenova was found dead in the BAU restaurant, owned by one of her husband’s relatives, in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on November 9 last year.
Disturbing CCTV footage showed the couple chatting before father-of-four Bishimbayev grabbed his wife by the hair and dragged her out of the scene.
According to Nukenova’s mother, eight hours of torture followed.
His daughter died as a result of brain trauma after multiple blows to the head.
Bishimbayev’s lawyers initially questioned medical evidence indicating this was the cause of Nukenova’s death.
They also tried to present 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 showing her attacking Bishimbayev.
According to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, restaurant staff were prohibited from calling emergency services.
The order was also given to delete the images from the security cameras under the pretext of a technical failure.
The trial is the first of its kind to be broadcast online in Kazakhstan and made easily accessible to its 19 million inhabitants.
As a result, Nukenova’s death has garnered national attention, prompting calls for new legislation to address domestic violence.
Tens of thousands of people have signed petitions calling for new laws to hold those responsible for abuses accountable.
Senators have since passed a bill toughening spousal abuse laws, called the “Saltanat Law.”
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 the former Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan, is already well known to the authorities.
Bishimbayev, 44, was once seen as a new, Western-educated face of Kazakhstan’s government and a former “favorite” of former leader Nursultan Nazarbayev.
In 2018, however, he was imprisoned for bribery and placed in a maximum security institution in the penal system.
In February 219, he appealed for clemency 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, DC as part of the Bolashak Scholarship.
In May 2016, he was appointed Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan after waves of unrest during protests against land reforms to replace Erbolat Dosaev.
He was eventually removed from office on December 28, 2016.
Nukenova’s brother Aitbek A Mangeldy, a key prosecution witness in the case, said he had no doubt his sister’s tragic fate changed attitudes about domestic violence in Kazakhstan.
“People change their minds when they see firsthand what it looks 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 his death,” he said, as reported. UN.
“I want to apologize. I don’t expect forgiveness, but it is my responsibility. I realize that it is an irreparable loss and I am complicit in the circumstances.”
Bishimbayev then talked 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 to the next session, referring to the fact that he was “tired of talking.”
How can you get help?
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone close.
- Contact charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger call 999.
- Familiarize yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without talking on the phone, instead of dialing “55.”
- Always carry some money with you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try going 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 knives or other weapons are likely to be present. Avoid rooms where you could get trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you could get trapped in a closet or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open on weekdays and weekends. during the crisis: messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and weekends from 10am to 6pm
You can also call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline free of charge 24 hours a day on 0808 2000 247.
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