Shymkent court sentences Sherkhan Aimakhan to life imprisonment for murder of Nurai Serikbay
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A Shymkent court sentenced 28-year-old Sherkhan Aimakhan to life imprisonment for the murder of Nurai Serikbay, 21, who was stabbed 35 times on January 11, 2026. The court also ordered him to pay 25 million tenge in moral damages and 5 million tenge for the family's legal costs. The verdict has not entered into legal force.
Key Facts
- A Shymkent specialized interdistrict criminal court convicted Sherkhan Aimakhan of murder with particular cruelty, stalking, and forcing marriage, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
- Nurai Serikbay, 21, died at the scene after receiving 35 stab wounds, nine of which were penetrating wounds to her neck, chest, and abdominal cavity.
- The court ordered Aimakhan to pay 25 million tenge in moral damages and 5 million tenge for the family's lawyer fees.
- Investigators recorded 76 phone calls from Aimakhan to Serikbay in a single day during the stalking period.
- The verdict has not entered into legal force.
The Stalking and Abduction
Sherkhan Aimakhan met Nurai Serikbay at a wedding in summer 2025 and proposed marriage after a short acquaintance; she refused because she was not ready to marry. In October, Aimakhan arrived in Almaty, where Serikbay was a university student, and drove her outside the city, threatening to stage a traffic accident if she resisted. Serikbay was taken to the home of Aimakhan's relatives, where a traditional ceremony with a headscarf was performed. Her relatives found her, brought her and Aimakhan to police, but the case did not receive legal development that could have prevented the subsequent events. Aimakhan then pursued Serikbay through acquaintances, visits to her home, and calls from different numbers, with 76 calls recorded in a single day.
The Attack
On January 11, 2026, Aimakhan waited for Serikbay in the parking lot near her home. When she went out to a shop, he asked her to go for a walk, and after she refused, he attacked her with a knife. Serikbay received 35 stab wounds, nine of them penetrating her neck, chest, and abdominal cavity. She died at the scene from massive blood loss.
Trial and Verdict
Aimakhan denied guilt, claiming Serikbay had voluntarily agreed to marry him and that she struck him first with a knife on the day of the attack. He said he did not remember what happened after that and was in a state of affect, but a forensic psychiatric examination found him sane. The Specialized Interdistrict Court for Criminal Cases of Shymkent found him guilty of all charges and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The court partially satisfied the civil claim of Serikbay's family, ordering Aimakhan to pay 25 million tenge for moral harm and 5 million tenge for lawyer fees. The verdict has not entered into legal force.
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Shymkent court sentences Sherkhan Aimakhan to life imprisonment for murder of Nurai Serikbay
