A well-known former economy minister of Kazakhstan has been arrested in connection to his wife's murder, causing calls to change the nation's laws regarding domestic violence. Kazakhstan currently does not criminalize domestic violence as a separate, criminal-level offense. The country decriminalized battery and light bodily harm in 2017. In light of the recent murder, a petition with some 150,000 signatures has called for re-criminalizing battery and intentional infliction of light bodily harm.
Compiled from: Viktoriya Kim, "Kazakhstan Woman's Death a National Tragedy," Human Rights Watch, Nov. 27, 2023.