Murder of 7-months old infant

Lado Bitchashvili, Shida Kartli

On May 21, 7-months-old infant was found dead in a pram in Agaiani village, Kaspi municipality. The Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested the underage mother of the infant. 

“The investigation estimated that the accused M.Sh suffocated 7-months-old infant in her house in Agaiani village, Kaspi municipality and ran away. M.Sh, born in 2002, was arrested under the charge of the murder in aggravating circumstances. She confessed the committed crime. The crime is punishable by imprisonment from 13 up to 17 years in length,” the MIA reports. 

On May 22, Gori district court satisfied the solicitation of the prosecutor’s office and sentenced the detainee to pre-trial imprisonment. 

Prosecutor Nana Gugutishvili said the defendant enjoys right to silence. 

“The Court accepted the arguments of the prosecutor’s office and sentenced the detainee to imprisonment. At the trial, the defendant stated that she enjoys right to silence,” the prosecutor said. 

She added that the underage mother confessed the committed murder with the investigators of the MIA but since the charge was officially brought against her, she keeps silence. 

The advocate of the defendant stated they also agreed with the imprisonment and added that her client keeps silence that does not mean that she confessed the committed crime.

“We accepted the proposed imprisonment because at this stage it was necessary,” the advocate said after the trial.

In parallel to the murder case, police started investigation over the sexual intercourse with a girl who has not attained the age of 16 years. The school director, where the defendant studied, said that she informed the police about disappearance of the girl in 2017 but they did not react.

According to the MIA, the police officer, who was informed about the disappearance of the underage girl and about the birth of the baby but did not react, was fired. General Inspection of the MIA continues investigation against other officers who might have demonstrated professional negligence or abused their power. 

MIA reports the investigation estimated that the defendant was not 16 years old when she got pregnant that contained signs of criminal offence punishable under the Article 140 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. Consequently, criminal charges may be brought against the father of the killed infant too.