Stepfather found guilty of torturing Daler Bobiev

The court sentenced the stepfather of a five-year-old boy to 5 years in prison.

The garrison court of Yekaterinburg issued a verdict against Alexander Naumov, the husband of the suspect in the murder of five-year-old Daler Bobiev, Veronika Naumova. He will now serve five years in a penal colony for child abuse.

According to Russian media, Naumov himself stated before the verdict was announced that he hopes for “the best” and does not admit his guilt. Naumov’s lawyer also stated that they disagree with the court’s decision and intend to appeal the verdict.

Naumov claimed that until June 2023, he was in a combat zone in Ukraine. However, witnesses noted that he came home on leave last winter and was aware of the child’s disappearance.

Naumov recounted that as punishment, he made the boy do squats. However, witnesses in the case testified that he put the boy “in a stretch,” tied him to a chair with tape, and left him without food. Due to his abusive behavior, the boy ran away from home multiple times.

Journalists in the courtroom reported that Alexander Naumov was also stripped of his military rank and taken into custody.

The biological father of Daler, Khudjanovidin Bobiev, a native of Tajikistan, accused Veronika Naumova, Daler’s mother, of extortion, claiming that she demanded money for the opportunity to communicate with his son. This continued until the man discovered bruises on the child’s body, after which Naumova stopped allowing him to see Daler. “She asked for money so that I could talk to my son on the phone, but after I started asking questions about the bruises, she forbade me from communicating with him,” Khudjanovidin Bobiev recounted.

Daler’s biological father demanded compensation of 5 million rubles, but the court denied his request.

The disappearance of Daler Bobiev became known in June 2023. It was reported that he left home in the Vtorcheremet area and did not return. On June 29, the boy was found dead: his body was in a bag. It turned out that he had been killed six months earlier.

A former ward of Naumova (the nephew of her husband Alexander), Daniil Egolnikov, told journalists that the guardian treated Daler cruelly: beating him, choking him, not feeding him for days, and shocking him with a stun gun. At the time, Daniil’s words were not taken seriously.

At the end of July, law enforcement officials officially named the cause of Daler’s death for the first time. According to their data, Naumova first tied Daler’s legs with tape, then began to hit him on the head and body with a metal spoon, and later drowned him by holding him underwater.

The Sverdlovsk Regional Court charged Veronika Naumova, the guardian of the murdered five-year-old Daler Bobiev, with 62 crimes against the boy.

Daler’s biological father, Khudjanovidin Bobiev, was serving a sentence for robbery. Previously, he regularly sent money for the child’s needs. In response, Naumova sent photographs of items supposedly purchased for the boy. However, financial assistance was stopped after the father noticed a burn on his son’s hand in one of the photos. This was reported to URA.RU by the boy’s biological father.

“Every time she asked me to send money for clothes and shoes, I did it without any objections. I was happy to help my son in any way I could. In response, Naumova sent me photos of Daler. I saw that my son was dressed, shod, and not hungry. Everything seemed fine until one day I noticed a burn on my son’s hand. I asked Naumova about it, but she didn’t respond. When I asked to see my son on video, she completely cut off all contact with me. That’s when I raised the alarm. But I was told that Daler was under the care of social services and that he was doing well,” shared Khudjanovidin Bobiev.

The boy was placed under the guardianship of the Naumov family after his father, Khudjanovidin Bobiev, a citizen of Tajikistan, was convicted in Russia for theft.