The verdict of a life sentence for Alexander Semin, accused of raping and murdering a 5-year-old Tajik girl named Huvaido Tillazoda in 2018, was announced by the appellate court on September 13.
On March 15, 2023, the Moscow Court had initially sentenced Semin to 24 years in prison. Relatives of Huvaido had demanded a review of the sentence and a harsher punishment for the perpetrator.
"Both the prosecution and the victim's side were dissatisfied with the verdict issued in March. Alexander Semin's lawyer sought complete exoneration for his client, while we, on the other hand, demanded a life sentence," noted the lawyer.
According to "currenttime", after being sentenced to life imprisonment, Semin protested. He has the right to appeal the appellate court's verdict within six months.
Huvaido Tillazoda was killed on July 22, 2018. The five-year-old girl was abducted from her yard in Serpukhov, near Moscow. Her family and volunteers searched for her for almost a day, but by the time they found her, it was too late. The lifeless body of the child was discovered in a sports bag near a railway station. Forensic examination revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and then fatally stabbed.
Alexander Semin, who lived in Serpukhov adjacent to the Tajik family, was detained on suspicion of murder. It later emerged that locals had previously reported Semin to the police. In 2017, another Serpukhov resident accused him of "committing harassment" against her daughter.
However, the police, who were supposed to investigate Semin's case at that time, did not initiate criminal proceedings against him. As a result, the district officer Georgiy Kuznetsov, who refused to investigate the woman's complaint, was sentenced to 10 months of corrective labor.
For several years, the legal process was delayed because Alexander Semin was in a psychiatric clinic. The clinic issued a certificate stating that Semin, due to his mental condition, was unfit to participate in the trial. Huvaido's family was convinced that the murderer was attempting to evade responsibility and was feigning mental illness.
Tajik filmmaker Lolisanam Ulugova has created an animated film about the tragic story of Huvaido Tillazoda:
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