Police in Astana are investigating a criminal case involving the alleged rape of a masseuse. The woman says a client beat her, threatened her with a knife and held her in a rented apartment, according to infohub.kz.
According to the complainant, the attack occurred on July 4 during an out-call therapeutic massage. Her account was published on Threads by Lyazzat Rakisheva, president of the Human Rights Lawyers foundation.
The woman said she had previously treated a man named Kanat, but blocked him on WhatsApp after he asked her to find a "body masseuse." A month later, the man contacted her again and booked a therapeutic massage. Before the meeting, the client was reminded several times that she does not provide intimate services.
According to the complainant, once inside the apartment the man demanded that she continue the massage while sitting on him. She refused and prepared to leave.
"I told him: 'If you need an intimate service, call a prostitute. I warned you in advance that I don't offer such services. You're wasting my time,'" the post says.
The woman says the man then grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head several times against the hard corner of a sofa. She says he then beat her and sexually assaulted her.
"He punched me in the head several times, pressed my head down with his hand and used various obscenities," the woman said.
After the attack, the woman tried to leave the apartment. She says the man ran after her with a knife. She reached a window and began calling for help from people in the courtyard.
"I started screaming and calling for help with all my might, about 7-8 times. That's when people in the courtyard on that side saw me," the post says.
According to the complainant, the man continued to threaten her with the knife and forced her back into another room. She also says he sexually assaulted her several times and cut off her hair with the knife.
Neighbors later knocked on the apartment door. The woman said she could not ask them for help because the man was threatening her with a knife.
"Police entered the apartment and detained him. An ambulance arrived," the complainant said.
Police confirmed that a criminal case has been opened. "The suspect has been detained and placed in a temporary detention facility. The necessary investigative measures are currently being carried out to establish all the circumstances of what happened," police said.