25-YEAR-OLD GIRL MURDERED AND 24-YEAR-OLD BOY WOUNDED
A1+
14 July, 2008
The seventy-year-old man sitting on a window-sill of apt. 7, house
188, Bashinjaghian Str., with a bloody face and an axe in his hand,
threatened to jump out since 1.00 p.m. July 14.
Today he appeared in his former flat. He had already killed 25-year-old
G. and wounded 24-year-old R. with a stonemason’s hammer. R. was
taken to "Armenia" medical centre while G. died on the spot.
People crowded near the building wondering what the 70-year-old man
would do next. N. now stood on the window-sill, looked down with
his bloody face and then sat on the sill. Meanwhile policemen and
rescurers were thinking of a plan to render N. harmless.
Finally, at about 4.00 policemen broke into the flat and took
N. out. The sight was really appalling.
People gathered on the scene told A1+ that N. had attempted suicide
four years before.
Neighbours said that N.’s son had pawned the flat and taken a loan of
$2000 from a bank. "N. couldn’t pay the money and lost the flat. The
boy cheated his mother and made her sign some documents. The poor woman
obeyed him without realising the hanging grave consequences. Four
years ago when the employees of Compulsory Service dropped in to
vacate the flat, N. dropped a wheel on a police car from the seventh
floor. The poor man had gone mad. Nevertheless, they were forced off,"
a neighbour told A1+.
Former district head of Ajapnyak commune, Artsrun Khacahtrian,
had given them $2000 so that they could pay the debt and keep the
flat. They say the boy had squandered the money, too. The old people
could hardly make both ends meet. They sold greens at the market. The
woman died this year and N. stayed alone. He was completely at a loss,"
said another neighbour.
One of the men grouped in front of the building told us that N. had
sat beside them today and watched them playing backgammon. "He was
in low spirits. He didn’t play. Nor did he utter a word. As far as I
know he had appealed to court to return the flat but all his efforts
were in vain. This is the real picture of our courts. They make people
fly into a rage and become insane."
A. Avagian whose daughter had been killed worked in a shop in the
ground floor of the same building. "You cannot imagine how nice
people they were. In fact, they had no connection with the flat,
they simply rented it. Instead of punishing his own son, N. killed
an innocent girl. It is still unknown whether the wounded boy will
live. This is a great tragedy," said the employees in tears.