New Case details - 14-Year-Old Killed by Husband in Sagarejo

As Georgian News found out, the girl was from one of the villages of Dmanisi region of Aitaj. Aalim, a resident of Lambalo village of Sagarejo, married her about two months ago and lived with her in Lambalo. Several people confirmed to us that the girl was abducted, although neither the girl's parents nor relatives notified the police.

The man is an adult, about 25 years old. The family was preparing to hold their wedding.

The girl was an 8th-grade student in the Dmanisi village public school. Georgian News contacted the principal of the school and asked why the school did not inform the police or social services after the girl did not report to school for the first three weeks of the new school year.

‘’She was right here at the lessons yesterday’’ – the school director tried to deceive us.

- Do you know that she was killed?

- Killed?

- Yes, she was killed today. She has been in the village of Lambalo for two months, so how exactly did she attend the school here in Dmanisi?

After that, the school director stopped communicating with us.

The abduction and forced marriage of a 14-year-old girl also have not been reported to the police by Lambalo residents who knew about it, work in the public services, and are aware that child abduction, illegal deprivation of liberty, and sexual acts with a person under the age of 16 are serious crimes. Sagarejo police has a department in Iogmughanlo district, but they too, took no action.

The girl's body is being examined at the Kakheti Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination. The examination will determine whether she was pregnant. None of the relatives of the victim have come to the examination center yet.

The man accused of the murder has not been arrested as of now.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is investigating the case under Article 11 Prima 109, which stands for premeditated murder under aggravating circumstances. The crime is punishable by imprisonment for a term of sixteen to twenty years or life imprisonment.

The public defender addressed the murder of a 14-year-old child.

‘’The information about her illegal detention and forced marriage at the age of childhood before this tragic fact is highly alarming.

Despite the high rate of investigations into the facts of possible early marriages, the detection and reporting of both child marriage cases and alleged forced marriages remains a problem in the country. The awareness of those responsible for referrals of such cases about the indicators, procedures, and their obligations to detect child marriage is critically low.

The steps taken by the state in cases of early marriage and femicide are insufficient and require systematic and coordinated work at both the central and local levels.

Unfortunately, despite the call of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the state has not strengthened its work against gender-based violence in regions where gender norms and stereotypes are particularly strong.

The Public Defender will study the cases of murder and attempted murder of women, and cases of child marriage, and considers it important to take immediate steps in response to existing challenges. In particular, there should be a timely and effective involvement and response of all relevant agencies, including a strict policy on cases of non-reporting of crimes. Also, it is important for the state to study the facts of possible violations of the referral procedures by the responsible persons,’’