3 charged with unlawful deprivation of freedom, degrading treatment of woman who died after abuse in 2014

Three individuals have been charged with illegal deprivation of freedom and degrading treatment of Khanum Jeiranova, a woman found dead on September 18, 2014 in eastern Georgia's Sagarejo municipality following severe psychological and physical abuse from her husband’s relatives, the Prosecution Service of Georgia announced on Wednesday. 

The state body said a group involving the charged individuals had put Jeiranova in a “degrading circumstance” and humiliated her in front of locals in a village of the municipality, noting two days prior to her death she had been dragged out of a car by force and verbally and physically assaulted, before those attacking her restricted her freedom. 

The Prosecution Service said it treated the case as gender-based discrimination, noting “[i]n the presence of the villagers, [Jeiranova] was referred to in derogatory terms, claiming she should have been punished for behaviour inappropriate for a woman”.

The state body said it would address Tbilisi City Court to use imprisonment as the pre-trial measure against the individuals, noting the crime is punishable by seven to 10 years imprisonment. 

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women established in November last year the Georgian authorities had failed to investigate and prosecute gender- and honour-based violence against Jeiranova, after the Sapari women’s rights organisation and the Human Rights Centre appealed to the Committee over the matter in September 2018. 

Sapari had demanded an “effective investigation” into the case since 2014, stating it showed “double discrimination” against the victim.

The Committee urged Georgia to conduct a “thorough and independent investigation” into the case and to “prosecute those responsible”. The organisation also demanded provision of an “adequate compensation” and an official apology to the deceased woman’s children, who were underage when their mother died.