In Eastern Georgia, 10-month-old baby perished

In the village of Kolaga of the Gurjaani District of Kakheti, a 10-month-old girl perished. The girl's parents said that they associated the incident with the political activity of their relative, an activist of the coalition "Georgian Dream", who, according to them, had been repeatedly threatened by activists of the "United National Movement" Party. The ruling party denied the accusations. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) called on not to use the incident for political purposes.

The baby disappeared in the afternoon of September 30, when it was put to sleep on the ground floor. After several hours of searching, the girl was found unconscious in a qvevri (big jug for wine), partially filled with water. The baby was urgently hospitalized; however, doctors could not save her.

Residents of the village started unrests and demanded to punish guilty persons or they threatened to block the road.

In his blog on the "Caucasian Knot", BERG...man Tbilisi explained that the dead girl's name was Barbara Rafaelyan. He writes that the baby was killed. "I do not blame anyone... However, oppositional politicians have made their statements," the blogger has stressed. He claimed the pre-election split in the Georgian society.

Relatives accused representatives of the ruling party of the kidnapping and murder of the baby. Manana Berikashvili, a majoritarian candidate of the coalition in Gurjaani, was the most active. She claimed that the crime was committed by Giorgy Gviniashvili, her opponent from the "United National Movement" Party and demanded to arrest him, the "Georgia Online" reports.

In his turn, Giorgy Gviniashvili stated that such allegations are "beyond all limits." "The death of the baby is a tragedy, and it is unacceptable to assign it a political nature," the "News-Georgia" quotes the candidate for the position of MP as saying.

The MIA disseminated a statement on the incident. "It is regrettable that such a sensitive and tragic case became a subject of political speculation on the part of the 'Georgian Dream'. The investigatory team of the Georgian MIA has already left for the place of the incident," the statement of the Georgian MIA reports.

Eka Zguladze, Acting Minister of Internal Affairs, has stated that she takes the case under her personal control.

Chiora Taktakishvili, Spokesperson of the ruling party, has expressed condolences to the family of the deceased child. She has stated that political manipulation of such a subject is unacceptable.

At the same time, the coalition "Georgian Dream" refrained from any official political judgments. "We express our condolences to the family of the deceased child. And, despite the fact that the baby's aunt is a supporter of the coalition, we will not make any political statements till the end of the investigation. We call on everyone to remain calm and refrain from any aggressive actions," stated Maya Pandjikidze, Spokesperson of the coalition "Georgian Dream".