Thousands in Kazakhstan are currently following the trial of former minister Kuandyk Bishimbayev charged with beating his wife Saltanat Nukenova to death. The Supreme Court proceedings are being live-streamed on social media like a dark reality show.
- 31-year-old Saltanat Nukenova was found dead last November in a restaurant owned by a relative of her husband, where the couple had spent almost a whole day and the previous night.
- Shocking footage played in the court showed Kuandyk Bishimbayev, a former economy minister, repeatedly kicking and punching a slender young woman wearing only a coat and boots, and dragging her around by her hair.
- Video evidence presented in court captured the harrowing moments of abuse, showing Bishimbayev assaulting Nukenova outside the restaurant, pulling her hair, kicking her while she was on the ground, and delivering a powerful blow to her jaw.
- The 8-hour-long assault video also showed Bishimbayev breaking down the door when Saltanat tried to hide in a bathroom.
- The restaurant staff was instructed not to call emergency services and to delete CCTV footage, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
- As she lay on the floor, covered in her blood, Bishimbayev called a fortune-teller, who assured him his wife would be fine.
- The ambulance arrived 12 hours later, and the medical staff declared her dead at the scene.
- A coroner's report unveiled that Nukenova succumbed to brain trauma, with evidence of severe physical abuse including a broken nasal bone and numerous bruises on her body.
- Bishimbayev, 43, is charged with torture and murder with extreme violence and faces up to 20 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty and has argued in court that Nukenova died from self-sustained injuries.
- His lawyers initially challenged medical evidence indicating Nukenova's cause of death and attempted to portray her as a violent and jealous individual.
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