Women continue to be killed. Why does Kyrgyzstan not recognize the existence of femicide at the legislative level?
On February 15, 2024, relatives of 19-year-old Asel Zhanarbek kyzy applied to the Department of Internal Affairs of Issyk-Ata district. That day she left the house in Kant and disappeared. Before that, she sent an audio message to her mother, in which she said that she would kill herself and her husband would be to blame for this. Her body was found on March 18 in the BCHK.
Earlier, relatives complained about the inaction of the police. The girl got married two months ago. Her father told 24.KG that his daughter could have been driven to suicide. The publication also reports that Asel’s uncle found traces of blood in 15 places near the BCHK when he arrived at the scene after the incident and filmed them on camera, but the investigation did not take samples for examination.
The year 2024 began with the death of 23-year-old Aikyz Kalmurza kyzy with a disability. She died at the hands of her husband in front of her three-year-old daughter. The girl was deaf and dumb, with a disability of group 1..
According to law enforcement agencies, the murder occurred on January 2 in the village of Masaliev, Kadamzhai district, Batken region. The couple quarreled, the man strangled his wife. Local police officer Akylbek Amiraev said that a criminal case has been opened under the article “Murder” of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Relatives of the deceased told reporters that she had been beaten before and had been hospitalized. But her appeals to the police turned out to be fruitless – no measures were taken.
“He kicked and beat her very cruelly, he didn’t leave a living place. All this happened in front of my daughter. There is no living place left. I’ve lived for so many years, but this is the first time I’ve seen such cruelty. It is impossible for the incident to be distorted and mitigated. He must be punished to the fullest extent of the law. We only ask for this,” Azattyk reports the words of the grandmother of the deceased Kadycha Mamazhanova.
The Batken regional police reported that since the beginning of the year, seven women have tried to commit suicide in the village of Andarak in the Batken region, five of them died.
20-30 femicides occur annually in Kyrgyzstan
If you type the query “A woman died in Kyrgyzstan” into Google, there will be approximately 14,400,000 results.
Femicide is the murder of a woman committed by a man motivated by hatred of women, gender discrimination and/or as a result of gender–based violence with the connivance of the State.
The overwhelming number of murders of women in Kyrgyzstan were committed by men – an average of eight out of ten murders. In 75% of cases, femicide was committed by a person who was familiar with the murdered woman — an intimate partner, relative or friend.
In exactly three out of four cases, the victim knew her killer, and the main reasons were: “She interfered with watching TV”, “Slowly cooked food”, in order to raise her wife, jealousy, family budget, refusal to marry, refusal to have sex
How are they killed?
The victims of femicide were killed with extreme cruelty, brutally and aggressively. 2/3 of the femicides occurred with multiple injuries, multiple stab wounds, and women died from suffocation. In 70 cases of murders of women out of 100, the killer disposed of the body in an attempt to conceal the crime by burning or dismembering.
* From the analysis of news, press releases and court verdicts (research)
Why weren’t they protected?
In 2017, recommendations were developed for judges when making decisions in cases of murder, causing serious harm to health that led to death. The murder of women is not highlighted in this document. into a separate category. In 2019, 135 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic “Causing death by negligence” appeared, according to which cases where the deceased is a woman are registered.
Kyrgyzstan should acknowledge the existence of femicide at the legislative level
At the end of September 2023, Kyrgyzstanis were shocked by another case of cruelty against women. 36-year-old Asel Nogoibayeva became a victim of violence, and miraculously escaped death at the hands of her ex-husband. But she remained mutilated – her husband cut off her nose and ears. The youngest son, who became the only witness to the brutal abuse of his mother, cannot speak. The appeal from Asel was received only after this situation was made public in the media.
On January 26, the Sokuluk District Court sentenced Azamat Estebesov to 20 years in prison. According to the court’s decision, the accused must pay Asel 2 million soms (22.34 thousand US dollars). Asel’s lawyers and relatives demand to punish the judge, who previously released the criminal under probation supervision. They also demand that the Prosecutor General’s Office immediately launch an investigation into negligence on the part of law enforcement agencies.
As it turned out, Assel has been issued 5 protective orders against her ex-husband in the last year alone. But none of them were fulfilled: the man continued to come to her house, beat and raped the woman. The police did not respond to her complaints.
This case once again showed the absolute insecurity of women in Kyrgyzstan. A couple of days after the news about Asel Nogoibayeva, information about another case appeared on the page of human rights activist Nazgul Turdubekova: a resident of Bishkek was driven to suicide by her husband.
“The relatives of the deceased called me and informed me that the mother of three children had been found hanged. They were very upset, from their words, according to their assumption, it most likely happened as a result of violence,” she wrote.
Human rights activists say that in the case of the woman who committed suicide, she was also systematically bullied by her husband and as a result, her wife could not stand the beatings and humiliation.
In the winter of 2023, an entire family became victims of partner violence – a mother and her two children were brutally murdered. A woman was beaten and thrown out of a window, children were stabbed and strangled. The killer worked in the state security of the National Security Committee in the past, participated in parliamentary elections.
One of the most heartbreaking murder cases occurred in 2018.
The name of 19-year-old Burulai has become a household name for Kyrgyzstanis. The girl was stabbed to death by the man who stole her. He wanted to marry her. The girl was killed by her abductor right in the police station.
Burulai’s parents contacted the police, the criminals were detained and taken to the police department. The kidnapper and Burulai were taken to the Interior Ministry department, and for some reason they were left alone there.
The court sentenced the kidnapper Burulai to 20 years in a high-security colony with confiscation of property. The leadership of the Interior Ministry department, where Burulai was killed, was also fired.
In 2021, 27-year-old Aizada Kanatbekova became another victim of the tradition of bride theft.
In early April, early in the morning, the capital’s CCTV camera recorded how the girl was forcibly pushed into a car and taken away. The police, who were immediately contacted by Aizada’s relatives, refused to accept the application. And one of the employees even made an inappropriate joke: “What are you making a fuss about? Get ready for the wedding.”
Two days later, the girl was found near the capital. The kidnapper raped her, then strangled her with a T-shirt and stabbed her several times. After that, he committed suicide.
After the incident, the citizens demanded to call to account all those involved in this crime, as well as those whose inaction led to the death of Aizada Kanatbekova. Actions “Against violence” were held in Bishkek and Osh demanding the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs and reforms in law enforcement agencies.
The murder case was dismissed in connection with the death of the kidnapper who committed suicide. The dismissed police officers returned to service after a while. The reforms have not been carried out.
They are one of thousands of girls in Kyrgyzstan who are abducted every year to force marriage (ala-kachuu). The human rights organization Freedom House estimates the number of such girls from 8 to 12 thousand annually.
Every fifth family in Kyrgyzstan is the result of ala-kachuu. Kidnapping of women for the purpose of marriage is still common in Kyrgyzstan. Taking a stolen girl from the groom’s house is considered a disgrace, so many parents leave their daughters with men unknown to them. There is a criminal penalty for such a crime in the country. In recent years, according to human rights activists, there have been more appeals to the police. Previously, they tried not to report such crimes.
Already married, women suffer violence and humiliation from their husbands because it is accepted and because society condemns divorced women.
According to the National Statistical Committee, the number of victims of domestic violence in Kyrgyzstan has almost tripled in the last six years, 96% of them are women. Of the registered cases of domestic violence, only 2.5% result in criminal proceedings. In the eight months of 2023, 8,512 cases of domestic violence were registered.
Injured women may die not on the day of injury, but after a while. And then their deaths may not be included in the statistics of violent deaths at all.
In just 8 months of 2023, 8,512 cases of domestic violence were officially registered. Only 2% reach the court. It also shows how much the judicial system and the law in the country help femicide to occur, and negligence on the part of the police and the “family nature” of cases only worsen the situation.
Source: «Femicide. Who kills women in Kyrgyzstan and how?»
Main photo: Freepik