Aqtobe Family Demands Justice After 16-Year-Old Found Dead in River

A scandal is unfolding in Aktobe following the death of 16-year-old Islam Toregali, whose body was discovered in the Ilek River. His mother insists he did not take his own life, Orda.kz reports.

On November 30, around midday, Islam left home for the Yernur bathhouse, where he worked part-time. He did not return that evening as he normally would. A missing-person alert mobilized members of a city search group, and soon, police, volunteers, and rescuers joined the effort.

His mother, Aigul Kereeva, rejects the idea of suicide, saying Islam had clear plans for the following day and for the future.

She believes he was killed and is demanding accountability.

Why did they torture my son? Why did they kill him? I need justice. I understand that no one will return my son to me, but I want to prove that he died at a person's hands. My mother's heart doesn't believe that he jumped into the river himself, especially not two people at once. My son wouldn't do such a thing. There are many bruises on his body — those who saw it say so. At the morgue, they gave us the body in a bag and told us not to open it, but we didn't listen. At home, they opened it before the burial in Qulsary — there's not a single living spot on him. There's a hole above his nose, around his ears, on the left side of his chest, and bruises on his knees. I can't tell if they beat him with an iron or something, but there are marks. I think they beat him to death and then threw him in the river,
 she told Orda.kz.

Kereeva says the victims’ phones were found inside a car parked on the riverbank, both doors left open. Later, rescuers recovered two bodies from the river — Islam and a 27-year-old man.

Police say the two were acquainted, but both families strongly deny this.

It has also been reported that the older man picked up Islam in his car that night; he worked weekends at the same bathhouse as a bartender’s assistant.

Investigators say they found no evidence of foul play on either body.

We don't know what to think now. We have doubts because they didn't know each other before. The parents don't know each other either. My son didn't go to the bathhouse, if we think he had a fight with anyone there. We demand a public trial, a fair investigation. People are saying all sorts of things now: that they got into a fight, that there were disagreements. But if they didn't know each other, why would they fight? Someone is behind all this, or they saw something they shouldn't have,
 said the older victim’s father, Samat Zaininuly.

Original Author: Maria Bolatova