A shocking murder case from central Azerbaijan has come to a close, after a husband who stabbed his wife 20 times and slit her throat was sentenced to nine years in prison.
The Lankaran Court for Serious Crimes delivered its verdict against Elshan Abdulov, who admitted killing his wife in the Kyurdamir district after years of escalating family tensions and jealousy.
According to prosecutors, the couple married in 2009 and had three children.
But by 2022, Abdulov became convinced that his wife was secretly communicating with other men by phone, and demanded she cut all contact.
The situation spiraled in the summer of 2023, when the woman suddenly left the family home in the village of Shilyan and fled to Baku with a man named Elsever. Believing she had gone missing, relatives reported her disappearance to police.
Officers later located her in the capital, and Abdulov personally travelled to retrieve her and bring her back to Kyurdamir.
But the tensions did not end there.
Authorities say the woman soon resumed secret phone conversations with other men, hiding the calls from her husband.
On June 28, 2025, Abdulov returned home unexpectedly and found her speaking on the phone with yet another partner.
The confrontation turned deadly.
Investigators say Abdulov took a knife from the kitchen, stabbed his wife 20 times, and then slit her throat. He later walked to the police station and surrendered voluntarily, confessing to the killing.
In court, a relative of the victim said the family had “no claims” against Abdulov – a statement that surprised many observers but did not stop the sentencing.
Abdulov will serve nine years behind bars for the brutal killing.
