The rape and murder of an 8-year-old Katya Dmitriyeva of 28 years ago were solved last year, says the Tajik Interior Ministry’s TV report “Payki Sughd”. The crime was reportedly solved by Tajik police jointly with their Russian colleagues.
Katya, who lived in the Tajik northern city of Istiqlol (formerly Taboshar) city, disappeared almost three decades ago.
The report says the remains of her body were found recently in the basement of one of the houses in Istiqlol.
This was reportedly preceded by an arrest by Russian police of a 62-year-old resident of Zalegoshchensky district, Russia’s Oryol oblast, Shavkat Shayakhmedov, in late December 2022 on suspicion of committing a number of rapes and murders.
The investigation reportedly established that Shayakhmedov had committed at least four rapes and murders, including the rape and murder of Katya Dmitriyeva.
During interrogations, Shayakhmedov admitted that he raped and killed Katya Dmitriyeva in 1994, when he lived in the city of Istiqlol. He said he buried her in the basement of his mother-in-law’s house.
Shayakhmedov reportedly died in May this year while being transferred to a colony, where he was to serve a life sentence.
