After the wedding, Bishimbayev began to show aggression towards his wife. He forbade his wife to communicate with relatives and friends by phone, controlled her correspondence and movements, and forbade her to work.
The couple quarreled in a restaurant, and Saltanat said she wanted to break off the relationship. Drunk Bishimbayev began to beat her brutally with his hands and feet, as a result she died. He tortured his wife for several hours.
At the trial, Bishimbayev pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers asked to reclassify the charges from "Murder committed with particular cruelty" and "Torture" to "Causing death by negligence".
The tragedy has brought the issue of domestic violence back into the discussion of Kazakhstani society. The public worries that the ex-minister may escape responsibility and his case may be reclassified as more lenient.
In addition to Bishimbayev, his relative, Bakhytzhan Baizhanov, director of the capital's Gastrocenter, where the murder took place, is on trial. He is charged with "concealment of a particularly serious crime" and "failure to report a serious crime". Bishimbayev ordered him to delete all CCTV footage.
The quarrel escalated when Saltanat started to return valuable gifts to her husband when he began to reproach her with the gifts. The woman tried to hide from her furious husband in the toilet, but he broke down the door and purposefully continued beating her.
Bishimbayev faces up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.
