The Children of the Woman Killed on the Bus Received Compensation

29 August, 2024

In the pursuit of economic empowerment for women and children who are victims of violence, Rights Georgia achieved another important milestone. With the assistance of the organization, the minor children of a femicide victim received state compensation in the amount of 10,000 GEL.

Rights Georgia has been representing the interests of the mother of the femicide victim since March 2023. The organization applied to the Agency For State Care And Assistance For the (Statutory) Victims of Human trafficking to secure compensation after the conviction of the abusive man entered into legal force. The agency issued an order to grant compensation on August 15, 2024.

The case involves the murder of a woman by her husband on Bus No. 323 on Guramishvili Avenue in Tbilisi in May 2022. The man inflicted 27 wounds on the 31-year-old woman in front of her minor children and other passengers, resulting in her immediate death.

According to the verdict of the Tbilisi City Court on February 17, 2023, a 39-year-old man was found guilty of intentional murder committed with extreme cruelty, motivated by gender intolerance, possessive attitudes towards women, and the dominant role of men. The City Court sentenced the defendant to 20 years of imprisonment.

The decision of the court of first instance was appealed to the Tbilisi Court of Appeals by both the prosecutor and the lawyer of the convicted man. The prosecutor requested life imprisonment for the convict as the type and measure of the punishment. The mother of the femicide victim also supported the imposition of the strictest punishment.

The lawyer of the convicted man submitted an alternative report on the mental state of his client and requested the appellate court to terminate the proceedings. However, the court did not consider the alternative psychiatric examination report submitted by the man's lawyer to be a sufficient basis for terminating the proceedings.

Finally, the Tbilisi Court of Appeals took into account the brutality of the crime and upheld the guilty verdict of the first instance court. The lawyer of the convicted man and the prosecutor appealed the decision of the appellate court; however, the Supreme Court recognized the appeal as inadmissible, and the decision entered into legal force.

This case is being litigated by Rights Georgia with support from the USAID Rule of Law Program.