A dispute between neighbors in Shymkent ended in the death of a 65-year-old man, and according to the victim's relatives, the alleged cause of the quarrel was an air conditioner, reports infohub.kz.
Earlier reports said a quarrel broke out in Shymkent between men aged 65 and 39. Video from the scene showed the younger neighbor striking the older man several times. The 65-year-old victim never regained consciousness — arriving medics pronounced him dead. The suspect fled but was later detained. Police subsequently issued a statement about the tragedy.
Today, the victim's relatives told journalists their account of what happened. According to them, the entire incident unfolded in front of the victim's six-year-old granddaughter: the child tried to protect her grandfather and screamed in fear.
"She shouted: 'Don't hit grandpa!' She knows the neighbor. But he kept hitting him anyway. If he had just knocked him down and left, but when the man was already lying motionless, he came back and struck him again. After that, he went into their yard, took the air conditioner, and left. What cruelty! He is 38, and the victim was 65," said the victim's relative Momynzhan Imamov.
Another relative, Mukhammed Imamov, said that "the quarrel happened over the air conditioner; they had nothing else to divide." According to local residents, the suspect's family has lived here for about 20 years, and his mother works as a teacher. Relatives claim that shortly before the tragedy, the man had a conflict with the son of the deceased pensioner, who was not in the country at the time.
Law enforcement agencies are now investigating the details of the crime. Police have launched a pre-trial investigation into the fact of intentional infliction of grave bodily harm resulting in death by negligence.