A resident of Kanibadam has been sentenced to life imprisonment

The Supreme Court of Tajikistan sentenced 42-year-old Marat Sattorov, a school guard from the village of Sandzhidzor in the Kanibadam district, to life imprisonment. The court found him guilty of murdering six people.

The sentence was announced by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of Tajikistan at the end of November.

Neither the investigation nor the judicial authorities have provided details about the court proceedings. The motives for the crime are also unknown. The convicted individual, his relatives, and his lawyer have not commented.

However, local residents, including relatives of the victims who participated in the trial, doubt whether Sattorov was solely responsible for the crime or if he was even the real perpetrator.

One of the victims’ relatives told Radio Ozodi that during the court proceedings, the accused gave contradictory testimonies, sometimes confessing to the murder and sometimes denying it. After the arrest of this suspect, another family was killed.

The murders in the city of Kanibadam, which resemble serial killings, began in May of this year. At that time, six members of two families were killed in the village of Sandzhidzor in Kanibadam. One family of the deceased were Tajiks, and the other were Kyrgyz. Eyewitnesses and relatives reported that signs of violent death were visible on the bodies of the victims.

Later, several more high-profile murders occurred in the city and its surroundings, the latest being the murder of a family of six in the village of Shurobkala, which took place on the night of December 8.

The motives for the crimes remain unknown. Some relatives suggested that the criminals were robbing people in this manner, as it was reported that money and valuables were missing from the homes of the deceased. 

However, authorities stated that some murders occurred due to family conflicts. Investigations into other cases are ongoing.

Serial killings in Kanibadam have raised concerns among the residents of the country. They demand that the authorities find the perpetrators as soon as possible and hold them accountable.