The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office has charged a suspect in the intentional murder of 20-year-old Azerbaijani citizen Fatima Kerimova in Tbilisi, Georgia Online reports.

According to the investigation, the crime was committed by her cousin Emin Aliyev, and the motive was gender intolerance.

According to the investigation data of Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, from June 3 to June 25, 2026, Aliyev systematically restricted Kerimova’s freedom and controlled her daily life. Investigators claim that he forbade the young woman from communicating with relatives and other people, limited her ability to leave the house and move around independently.

According to law enforcement, Kerimova tried to leave the rented apartment where they were living together, but could not do so without Aliyev’s permission. The investigation claims that he alone decided when the young woman could leave the house, whom she could talk to, and even when she was allowed to eat.

The Prosecutor’s Office believes that in this way the suspect was trying to establish unlawful dominance over the woman.

The investigation established that on the evening of June 25, at about 22:00, in an apartment on Evgenia Maisuradze Street in Tbilisi’s Varketili district, Aliyev strangled Kerimova. According to the prosecution, the reason for the murder was hostility toward the principle of equality between men and women.

Charges were brought in absentia under subparagraph “t” of Article 109 of Georgia’s Criminal Code — murder committed on the grounds of intolerance toward equal rights of men and women. This article provides for punishment of up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.

In the near future, the Prosecutor’s Office intends to petition the court to place the accused in custody. Emin Aliyev will also be placed on the international wanted list.

Fatima Kerimova was found dead in a rented apartment in Tbilisi on June 26. Relatives of the deceased and human rights activists had earlier stated that the crime might have been connected to a so-called “honor killing.” According to media reports, after the incident the suspect left Georgia and was detained in Turkey.