Second Uzbek woman dismembered, remains dumped in Istanbul bins: Turkish media
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- Two Uzbek men were arrested for the January 24 murder of Durdona Khakimova, whose headless body was found in an Istanbul bin, sparking public outrage.
- Investigators now link the suspects to a second Uzbek woman's murder, Ergashalieva Sayyora, finding her dismembered body parts after she disappeared from the same house.
- Both victims lived with the suspects, Sayyora reportedly in a relationship with one. The men face court February 13 amidst protests against gender violence.
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ISTANBUL - Two suspects arrested for murdering an Uzbek woman and dumping her headless body in an Istanbul bin are believed to have killed a second woman in the same way, Turkish media reported Feb 12.
The two women, both Uzbek nationals, are believed to have been killed at the same place on or around Jan 23 in Istanbul’s Sisli district.
Late on Jan 24, police found the headless body of 37-year-old Durdona Khakimova wrapped in a sheet and dumped in a bin in Sisli. Her legs had also been cut off.
After reviewing CCTV footage, police arrested two men, also Uzbek nationals, at Istanbul’s airport as they were trying to leave.
Investigators now believe they killed a second woman, 32-year-old Ergashalieva Sayyora, after finding body parts in several rubbish bins across the city, DHA news agency and Halk TV said on Feb 12.
Sayyora arrived in Turkey on Dec 28 and was in touch with her family until Jan 23.
Following a tipoff, investigators looking into her disappearance determined that she had been staying at the house where Khakimova was killed.
They found the two women had lived there together for about a month with the suspected killers, and that Sayyora had been in a relationship with one of them.
On Jan 23, CCTV footage showed her entering the house, followed by the two suspects, who were then seen leaving the house the next day carrying several black bin bags.
They then brought a white suitcase out of the house and caught a taxi to the Fatih neighbourhood, emptied the contents into a rubbish bin and walked to the Yenikapi metro station.
During their interrogation over the second murder, investigators learned Sayyora was killed with a sharp instrument on Jan 23 and her body dismembered.
Both suspects, who have been charged with murder, will appear in court on Feb 13.
The initial murder sparked outrage from women’s groups who staged large marches in Istanbul and Ankara, demanding justice for victims of gender violence.
Figures compiled by the Stop Femicides NGO show that in Turkey in 2025, 294 women were killed by men and 297 women were found dead under suspicious circumstances. AFP
