The body of the murdered Russian woman has been sent back to her homeland.
The administration of the Gagra district promised help and support to the relatives of the murdered resident of the Orenburg region, Aminah Bikbova. The girl's body has already been sent to Russia.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on September 27, it became known that a resident of Abkhazia, Edgar Abukhba, was detained on suspicion of murdering 26-year-old tourist Aminah Bikbova from the Orenburg region, who had not been in contact with her family for three days. According to the investigation, Abukhba confessed to the murder of the girl. On September 29, the court sent him to a pre-trial detention center.
The murder of 26-year-old Aminah Bikbova from Orenburg fits into the trend of attacks on tourists in Abkhazia that have occurred in recent months. Residents of the republic, commenting on this incident on social media, criticized the early release of the suspect in the murder, Edgar Abukhba, who had previously been convicted for attempting to assault another tourist. They also expressed concern that attacks on vacationers could reduce the flow of tourists to the republic.
Close relatives of the murdered tourist from Russia arrived in Abkhazia, where officials from the Gagra district administration promised them "help and support." In the evening of September 30, the administration reported that the body of the murdered woman had been sent back to her homeland, TASS reports.
"The coffin with the girl's body was sent from Abkhazia to the Orenburg region," said Adamur Tsishba, the deputy head of the Gagra district administration, as quoted by "Vesti."
The murdered Aminah Bikbova was vacationing in Gagra with a friend, and they were supposed to return home on September 24, but Bikbova decided to stay in Abkhazia for a few more days and extended her rental agreement. According to the Telegram channel Baza, the girl decided to extend her vacation after meeting the fruit seller Edgar Abukhba, although her friend tried to dissuade her from private meetings with a stranger in a foreign country and urged her "not to seek adventures."
Amina's mother, Gulsina Bikbova, said that her daughter, when visiting Abukhba, sent a video message to her friend. "Amina showed that he had set the table for her, vegetables and fruits were cut, and a little dog was running around there," quotes her words "Lenta.ru."
Later, when Gulsina could not contact her daughter, she sought help from an acquaintance living in Abkhazia. The woman went to Abukhba's home, but he told her that Aminah had left. At that time, the girl was presumably already strangled by him.
The Commissioner for Human Rights, Anas Kishmaria, previously published a statement on the official website regarding the murder of Aminah Bikbova. According to Kishmaria, the tragedy was the result of systemic problems in the legislation and penitentiary system of Abkhazia. She reminded that Edgar Abukhba had already been sentenced to imprisonment for rape, violent sexual acts, causing serious harm to health, and robbery, but his nine-year sentence was reduced: due to the lack of a full-fledged prison facility, the law in Abkhazia provides for a system of sentence reduction based on the conditions of detention.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that conflicts involving tourists regularly occur in Abkhazia. For example, on August 2, a resident of Cherkessk who came for vacation was attacked in Sukhum and was hospitalized with a concussion and other injuries. On June 9, residents of Abkhazia demanded a response from the authorities regarding a tourist from Sochi appearing in Gagra wearing a hat with the image of the Georgian flag. On August 26, a conflict occurred between tourists and local residents at Lake Ritsa. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Abkhazia, two tourists sustained soft tissue injuries and a concussion; three residents of Abkhazia were taken to the police station.