The murder of own wife, commited by Kuandyk Bishimbayev has revealed several serious problems in Kazakhstani society, according to blogger Ilyas Baktygaliyev on his Telegram channel.
«The Bishimbayev case is a real information bomb. Almost immediately after the incident, it became evident that the case would quickly turn political; the groundwork was too good.
A man, once sentenced to 10 years and soon pardoned in old Kazakhstan, will now face trial in the New Kazakhstan without any leniency, abiding by the full rigor of the law.
In the context of the political reforms taking place in the country, this has quite symbolic significance. And when the President himself spoke about the incident, Bishimbayev’s fate was sealed; this time, there would be no escape.
The case triggered a wave of activism, both sensible, such as a petition to tighten penalties for domestic violence, and outright absurd hysteria about the supposedly intensifying femicide in the country.
There were also local squabbles among opinion leaders. The progressive left-liberal crowd, along with Itkulov, baselessly decided to ‘cancel’ Rashev once again. He took offense and wrote a satirical post about Itkulov, who found himself in a scandal amid his hypercompensation and tendency to flirt with subordinates.
But no matter how absurd such activity may seem on Kaznet (Kazakhstani Internet), it is worth remembering that the overall number of murders of women, rapes, and infliction of serious and moderate harm to women’s health in Kazakhstan is decreasing year by year. The reverse picture emerges only when looking at specific regions.
However, regardless of legislative tightening and feminist activism, the issue of domestic violence and women’s safety overall directly depends on the degree of archaization of society and the poverty of the population.
This is where we have problems. No strict law in favor of women will change anything if she is raised in an environment where she is expected to remain silent and accept violence as a given. In this context, it is indicative that the commotion has almost not touched the Kazakh-language internet space, where the level of patriarchal norms is noticeably higher.»
