Saltanat Nukenova, 31, was found dead last November.
The trial of a former Kazakh minister accused of beating his wife to death has become the topic of conversation across the country. Some see it as a litmus test of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's pledge to build a fairer, more just society.
Saltanat Nukenova, 31, was found dead last November in a restaurant owned by a relative of her husband Kuandyk Bishimbayev, where the couple had spent almost an entire day and the night before. She had been unconscious for hours.
During a recent hearing, the court was shown eight hours of footage of 44-year-old Kuandyk Bishimbayev, a former economy minister, beating his wife Saltanat Nukenova. The surveillance footage shows Bishimbayev repeatedly kicking and punching the 31-year-old at a restaurant owned by his family.
He is then seen dragging her by her hair into a separate room, where there were no cameras.
When she tried to escape by hiding in the toilet, Bishimbayev “broke open the door, pulled her out and continued to beat her,” the prosecutor said during the trial.
“He grabbed her by the throat after dragging her out of the toilet. At that point she lost consciousness,” the prosecutor added.
As she lay on the ground covered in blood, Bishimbayev called a fortune teller, who assured him that his wife would be fine. The ambulance arrived 12 hours later and medical staff pronounced her dead at the scene.
According to a coroner's report, Saltanat died of brain trauma. One of her nasal bones was broken and there were multiple bruises on her face, head, arms and hands.
Bishimbayev is accused of torture and murder with extreme violence and faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years. The murder trial, which was broadcast live on social media, has captured public attention and sparked a debate on gender equality and domestic violence.
Many Kazakhs see Bishimbaev as a typical member of the country's wealthy ruling elite and fear that even if found guilty, he could somehow escape appropriate punishment – as was the case with a previous conviction .
Bishimbayev was arrested in 2017 on bribery charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but was released after less than three years behind bars thanks to amnesty and parole.
