Former minister of Kazakhstan beat his wife to death. We’ve rounded up the most important things about one of the most high-profile trials

In the last few days, one of the most remarkable trials of recent years has been carried out in Kazakhstan. The republic’s former national economy minister is accused of murdering his 31-year-old wife in a particularly cruel manner. Court hearings are watched, commented and streamed live by thousands of users. We have collected all the most important information about this terrible event.

Warning: Content may contain disturbing violence.

It all happened on November 9, 2023. Later, Kuandyk Bishimbayev came to the Astana restaurant at seven in the morning together with Saltanat Nukenova. During the meal, an argument broke out between the spouses, during which the girl stated that she was tired of enduring such treatment and intended to leave her husband. Bishimbayev then began blaming his wife for the clothes and jewelry she purchased, during which Saltanat stripped down to her underwear.

Thereupon, the former minister started hitting the girl’s head with his fists and dragging her on the ground by her hair. He threw his jacket over the woman and wanted to leave the workplace, but the security guard kicked him out of the parking lot when he saw him drive onto the pavement in a drunken state. Returning to the restaurant, Bishimbayev beat Saltanat again immediately after exiting the elevator, and then continued his actions in the toilet, where the girl tried to hide from the bully. In addition to kicking and punching, the man also performed strangulation. The torture lasted eight hours. Reign Nukenova died. After that, Bishimbayev wrote a letter to the director of the capital’s “Gastrocenter” and also to his brother Bakhytzhan Baizhanov. He asked for the CCTV footage to be deleted.

According to the defendant, he noticed that his wife was breathing hard and a bruise was visible on her face. Thereupon, the former minister called the soothsayer: “I say: ‘He did not wake up, there is such a bruise, is he okay?’ Ten minutes later he asked to call again. I called again and he said: “Sultanate is tired, you can go home when you come to your senses.” My heart was relieved, so I asked him: “Please read it so that you can get better faster.” However, at 18.30, the former minister asked his brother to call an ambulance because he noticed that the girl’s face had become “cold”. Doctors pronounced her dead at the scene.

In court, Bishimbayev does not admit his guilt and claims that he noticed that he hit his wife’s buttocks two or three times and did not hit vital organs. And he entered Saltanat because he heard noise and screams in the toilet, but then the girl attacked him. “He ran towards me and tore my shirt. I pushed him and he hit the wall,” Bishimbaev said in court.

Bishimbayev and Nukenova met in August 2022. According to the prosecution, they already “had a wedding” in December, but they did not officially register the marriage. Relatives of the deceased claim that the girl tried to leave her husband eight times, but he did not allow it. Brother Saltanat said that he often sent him photos of beatings. It is known that Bishimbayev strictly controlled his wife: he forbade her to communicate with friends and relatives, monitored her movements and forbade her to work.

At the meeting, the prosecutor read a few notes that Saltanat wrote while he was alive: “After every argument, one day I come to my senses, then I have to mind my own business, greet you with a smile, God forbid I am tired. For love and marriage to bring long-term happiness, there must be a foundation of trust and respect, otherwise what is the point of our efforts? Everything will collapse like a house of cards. We need to learn to support each other and not fight with each other like two idiots. “We talk a lot about our relationship and seem to understand each other, but I’m still stressed out by the constant nagging and arguments.”