TBILISI, July 1 – The body of a young Azerbaijani woman has been found in a rented apartment in Tbilisi, according to information reported by Interpressnews on Wednesday.
The case was made public by Baia Pataraia, head of the women’s rights organization Sapari, who wrote about it on social media, Interpressnews reported.
Pataraia wrote that the woman’s body was found in an apartment in Varketili, a district of Tbilisi, after people close to her failed to reach her. According to her account, neighbors had heard a loud quarrel the previous night, and police later entered the apartment and found the woman dead.
Pataraia also wrote that the woman had come to Georgia from Azerbaijan and had earlier been in a difficult situation after a relationship broke down. Her post describes a chain of events involving people in Georgia and Azerbaijan who tried to help the woman before she disappeared.
Interpressnews did not carry an official statement from police or prosecutors in its report, and the full sequence of events described by Pataraia has not been independently confirmed.
Sapari is now seeking a formal role in the case. Pataraia said the organization has asked the Prosecutor’s Office to allow it to represent the victim’s sister, who is in Azerbaijan.
She said the prosecutor must first decide whether the sister can be recognized as the victim’s legal successor. If that happens, Sapari could gain access to the case as a legal representative.
Pataraia warned that the case could be ignored or distorted and said some people in Azerbaijan were already trying to present the killing as an “honor crime” and blame the victim.
She called on Georgian and non-Georgian media to look into the case and urged prosecutors to give Sapari access to the materials.
