The horrifying final moments of a minister’s wife – who was dragged by her hair, kicked and beaten by her husband before dying from brain trauma – have been played out in court in a case that has shocked Kazakhstan.

Footage shows astrologer Saltanat Nukenova, 31, being brutally beaten by her husband, Kuandyk Bischimbayev, 43, Kazakhstan’s former economy minister, at a restaurant belonging to one of his relatives.

It was shared before the country’s Supreme Court in the first murder trial to be streamed online. The trial has been dubbed the ex-Soviet republic’s ‘trial of the century’ and has shocked the public, prompting tens of thousands to sign petitions for harsher penalties for domestic violence.

Bishimbayev, who faces up to 20 years in jail if found guilty, had claimed in court that his wife had died from ‘self-inflicted’ injuries on November 9 last year.

But the CCTV footage directly contradicts his claim, as it shows the politician punching and kicking his defenceless wife over a period of more than two hours.

This June 2017 selfie was taken by Saltanat Nukenova, in Astana, Kazakhstan. Her husband, former economics minister Kuandyk Bishimbayev, is standing trial for her November 2023 death

Bishimbayev, 43, had claimed in court that his wife had died from ‘self-inflicted’ injuries on November 9 last year. But the CCTV footage directly contradicts his claim, as it shows the politician punching and kicking his defenceless wife over a period of more than two hours

Footage shows Saltanat Nukenova, 31, being brutally beaten by her husband, Kuandyk Bischimbayev, 43, Kazakhstan’s former economy minister, in a restaurant belonging to one of his relatives

A second clip, from the restaurant lobby, shows the minister keeping up his brutal attack on his wife. As he grabs her throat, he drags her around a corner and starts to walk away before turning back

Bishimbayev finally admitted in court last Wednesday that he had beaten her and ‘unintentionally’ caused her death.

In one clip, the pair are seen apparently arguing outside a restaurant called BAU, owned by a relative of the minister in the Kazakh capital Astana.

Bishimbayev is seen angrily battering his wife and pulling her to the ground by her hair where he kicks her four times while she is on the ground.

As she staggers up he grabs her throat and aims a powerful left hook at her jaw sending her sprawling.

Then as she tries to claw her way back to her feet he kicks her again, takes a handful of her hair and drags her away out of camera shot.

A second clip, from the restaurant lobby, shows the minister keeping up his brutal attack on his wife. As he grabs her throat, he drags her around a corner and starts to walk away before turning back.

Saltanat is seen falling to the ground just in shot and trying to crawl away as her husband grabs her by the hair and drags her into a room as the clip ends. 

‘Bishimbayev broke down the door, pulled her out, and carried on beating her,’ the prosecutor alleged during the trial last month.

‘After dragging her out of the toilet, Bishimbayev grabbed Nukenova by the throat and strangled her, causing her to lose consciousness,’ he said.

Saltanat Nukenova was found dead from a traumatic brain injury the next morning in one of the restaurant’s VIP cabins, according to local media.

After her killing, Bishimbayev reportedly calmly sat down for a meal and instead of calling an ambulance, the minister admitted to the court that he had phoned ‘a clairvoyant friend’. 

Father-of-four Bishimbayev, former Minister for National Economy, was earlier a close aide to ex-president Nursulan Nazarbayev, now 83.

It was reported in March that Nukenova was Bischimbayev’s third wife, and that the attack came after she made it clear she wanted to leave him. 

Nukenova tried to leave him multiple times, claiming repeated beatings, according to evidence that has been presented in the trial.

Nukenova’s older brother, Aitbek Amangeldy, told The Associated Press that he had no doubt his sister’s tragic fate has shifted attitudes about domestic violence.

He said: ‘It changes people’s minds when they see directly what it looks like when a person is tortured. 

‘Of course, it’s difficult for me to be in court, to listen to various things that the defendant’s side has been saying. It’s even more painful to know that (their) words are being broadcast across the country. 

‘But I understand that these broadcasts are also educational material, including for lawyers and human rights defenders.’

Nukenova can be seen in an undated photo showing her bruised face after a previous incident. The photo was shown in court. Nukenova tried to leave her husband multiple times, claiming repeated beatings, according to evidence that has been presented in the trial

Saltanat Nukenova (pictured here with her husband) was found dead from a traumatic brain injury the next morning in one of the restaurant’s VIP cabins, according to local media

Two women buy flowers in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sunday, April 21, 2024. A high-profile trial involving the killing of Saltanat Nukenova has raised awareness of spousal abuse in the Central Asian country

After her killing, Bishimbayev reportedly calmly sat down for a meal and instead of calling an ambulance, the minister admitted to the court that he had phoned ‘a clairvoyant friend’

At an earlier hearing on April 3, Bishimbayev had pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder with extreme cruelty and instead claimed that his wife had died from ‘self-inflicted’ injuries

At an earlier hearing on April 3, Bishimbayev had pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder with extreme cruelty and instead claimed that his wife had died from ‘self-inflicted’ injuries.

His legal team says Saltanat’s brain injury had been caused when she fell and hit her head on a lavatory bowl.

Bishimbayev told the court: ‘At some point, she said, ‘I’ll take off my pants now.’ I grabbed her from behind and said, ‘What are you doing? You don’t have to do this.’

‘I grabbed her by the waistband from behind. And it turns out that her face was turned to the toilet, and her back was to me.

‘Because I grabbed her pants from behind, she wanted to pull them and pull them down. And, apparently, she had an idea – in words she told me, ‘I’m going to throw everything in your face.’ Well, it’s all in an aggressive, foul-mouthed form.’

He claimed he ‘got angry and let Saltanat go’. 

Bishimbayev explained: ‘And there was such a counterweight, a movement, she apparently thought that I would hold on, and pulled sharply, and at that moment I let go.

‘And somehow she – once, her pants flew down, and she lost balance and began to fall towards the toilet.

‘She hit the wall, somehow flew – the wall was on her right, she began to fall and flew first against the wall, somehow pushed off from it with her hand and fell face down on the toilet.

‘It was just a very strong blow. And her face bounced off the toilet, and she fell to the floor. Two blows. I was a little taken aback.

‘I watched what was happening. She probably lay in this state in the toilet for 10-15 seconds […]. The pants were already hanging below the knees. I watched, stood and watched.’

The case is being seen as a test of the Kazakh justice system’s independence from the country’s political elite. Local media said that many Kazakhs see Bishimbayev as typical of the country’s wealthy and powerful ruling class.

Most fear that even if he is found guilty, he will somehow escape proper punishment, as he did seven years ago in a corruption case.

On April 11, senators approved a bill toughening domestic violence laws and Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed it four days later. It has been dubbed ‘Saltanat’s Law’

In this photo released by The Kazakhstan Supreme Court Press Office’s Telegram channel on Friday, April 19, 2024, businessman Kuandyk Bishimbayev, the country’s former economy minister, sits in a defendants’ cage in court in Astana, Kazakhstan. Bishimbayev is on trial in the killing of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova

Nukenova’s older brother, Aitbek Amangeldy (pictured in court), told The Associated Press that he had no doubt his sister’s tragic fate has shifted attitudes about domestic violence

Bishimbayev was arrested in January 2017 on charges of bribery and sentenced to ten years in prison – but less than three years later he was released thanks to an amnesty.

Official statistics show that one woman in six in Kazakhstan has been subjected to violence from a male partner.

According to a United Nations study, gender bias against women affects 93 per cent of the population of Kazakhstan, both male and female.

And in 2017, Kazakhstan decriminalised domestic violence, making it merely a finable offence.

On April 11, senators approved a bill toughening domestic violence laws and Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed it four days later. It has been dubbed ‘Saltanat’s Law’. 

Local media said that many Kazakhs see Bishimbayev as typical of the country’s wealthy and powerful ruling elite. Most fear that even if he is found guilty, he will somehow escape proper punishment, as he did seven years ago in a corruption case 

But her brother Amangeldy said that the law’s final version failed to include all the provisions the petitions and his family asked for, as he said it did not include ‘legal normals around stalking and harassment’ of adults.

Viktoriya Kim, a Kazakhstan-based researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the very notion of ‘domestic violence’ is absent from the country’s criminal code. Including it, she said, would send ‘a clearer signal.’

But Amangeldy argues that Kazakh society has clearly ‘passed a point of no return.’

The trial is ongoing.