Tragic Case in Aqtau: Young Woman Took Life After Assault, Family Seeking Harsher Sentences

The outcome of a case from May 2024 has family members seeking harsher sentences for the perpetrators of a violent crime that led to a woman's suicide in Aqtau, Orda reports.

The tragedy began when three men - Aralbay, Usengaliyev, and Kulbas - were seeking money for narcotics.

After pawning an iPhone for 60,000 tenge, they purchased mephedrone and were later joined by Seitkaliyev.

While under the influence, the group spotted a lone woman using her phone's flashlight to walk at night.

Mistaking her for a drug stasher, they forced her into their car and assaulted her. 

The victim endured hours of abuse, during which she was blindfolded, beaten, sexually assaulted, and forced to use mephedrone. 

She was also forced to watch a video of violent actions. Later, another person joined the defendants.

The severity of these acts in the car led to the public closing of the trial.

However, Seitkaliyev has denied any wrongdoing.

In the morning, they forced the victim to take out a two million tenge loan via her phone.

At this time, they realized that the girl was not a stasher but a fitness trainer. 

This did not stop them from abusing her. The criminals cashed the money, released the victim, and threatened her with violence if she spoke about the incident. 

Three days after the incident, the victim took her own life by jumping from a ninth-floor window.

Before her death, she confided in her friend and brother about the assault. They promised to bring the perpetrators to justice. 

Only one of the five defendants was charged with “Driving to Suicide.”

Seitkaliyev, who has a child and is a mechanic at "KEZBI" drilling company, received 20 years in a maximum security penal colony - after being found guilty of eight charges: illicit drug handling, kidnapping, illegal confinement, inducement to use drugs, sexual assault, extortion, and driving to suicide.

Meanwhile, Kulbas was sentenced to seven years for kidnapping and illicit drug handling, while Aralbay and Usengaliyev each received eight years.

A fifth defendant, Yerkebulan Amankos, who attempted to destroy video evidence and was not charged for that, received seven years for illegal confinement and extortion.

The investigation concluded that he did not participate in the kidnapping. 

Yerkebulan arrived at the refueling station, locked himself in the control room, took out a white video recording unit, and hit it several times with an unknown object. The police outside demanded that the door be opened. After destroying the unit, Yerkebulan came out with a wound on his hand, which he wiped with a wet napkin. The police then detained him.

The court ordered the convicted men to pay 27 million tenge in compensation to the victim's brother. The defendants have expressed remorse for what happened and apologized to the victim's family.

The victim's brother told Orda.kz that he filed an appeal.

The case has drawn attention from the Mangystau Regional Prosecutor's Office, which has requested life imprisonment for Seitkaliyev and 15-16 years for his accomplices.

On 05.01.2025, due to disagreement with the court's verdict in terms of the qualification and amount of punishment, the prosecutor of the Mangystau region filed a motion per the position set out in the judicial debate, the supervisory authority reported.

The appeal process is pending; the date is unknown.

Original Author: Dinara Bekbolayeva