Woman, accused of killing pensioner in Apsheronsk, is not Jehovah's Witness, believers assert

A 29-year-old female native of Uzbekistan was detained on charges of murdering an 88-year-old female resident of the city of Apsheronsk. According to investigators, she was connected with the religious organization "Jehovah's Witnesses". This was reported by the press service of the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) in the Krasnodar Territory. In their turn, Jehovah's Witnesses stated that the defendant was not a member of the organization.

ICRF: woman, detained in murder case, was member of the Christian Society of "Jehovah's Witnesses"

According to the investigators, on June 15, the 88-year-old female resident of the city of Apsheronsk was strangled at her house.

"The investigation revealed involvement in the crime of the 29-year-old female native of the Republic of Uzbekistan, who was detained. It was revealed that for about two years, the woman lives in the city with of Apsheronsk with her common-law husband and her minor daughter. Meanwhile, she resides in the territory of the district without proper registration. According to the investigators, the detainee was a member of the Christian society 'Jehovah's Witnesses', and the 88-year-old local female resident was also a member of the organization. Therefore, the women regularly communicated," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Natalia Smyatskaya, Chief Assistant of the Investigatory Department of the ICRF in the Krasnodar Territory.

According to the investigators, in the evening of June 15, the woman came to the pensioner with a request to temporarily stay with her in connection with the upcoming move from one household to another. Having been refused, according to the investigators, the defendant suddenly turned angry and started beating the hostess with her hands and feet, and as a result, the victim got fractures of her ribs, chest, and jaw. After that, the woman strangled the victim and fled the place of the crime.

At present, the female native of Uzbekistan faces charges of murder, and at the request of the investigator, the court pronounced a pre-trial restriction measure in regard to the woman in the form of keeping in custody.

Eduard Petrosyan: investigators are provided with credible evidence that suspect is not Jehovah's Witness

"During the preliminary investigation, the investigators were provided with credible evidence that the woman is not a Jehovah's Witness. I am surprised that the authorities make such improper statements," the press service of the Administration Centre of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia quotes Eduard Petrosyan, the representative of the community of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Apsheronsk.

According to him, representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses explained that the woman tried to gain the trust of the believers to use them in her material objectives. "Some people wanted to help her and gave her money. We are shocked by the inhuman act of that woman," Eduard Petrosyan has emphasized.

"According to our co-believers from Apsheronsk, the defendant has never been and is not a Jehovah's Witness, and that fact is indirectly confirmed by the news that she cohabitated with her common-law husband. Jehovah's Witnesses have a responsible attitude to marriage. We live in registered marriages only, and there are no Jehovah's Witnesses, who cohabitate with their partners without registration of marriage," said Grigory Martynov, Press Secretary of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

According to the representative of the religious organization, murdered pensioner was a real Jehovah's Witness.