The lawyer of Madina Abdullayeva revealed that she will be telling the court that the death of her child had been accidental. Abdullayeva's husband, Mohamed Barakat, reportedly beat her before smashing the baby's head against a door, leading to her death. Barakat and his family claim that he is being illegally investigated in Kazakhstan. His lawyers denied murder by stating that the man had accidentally fallen on the child causing her death.

The couple was at the Intercontinental Hotel in Almaty, Kazakhstan last year where the incident took place. The 22-year-old Kazakh woman was in the five-star hotel room with her daughter Sofia, while her 41-year-old British husband had been out drinking. At around 7 am local time, the Hong Kong Airways pilot returned to the room and got into an argument with his wife.

Abdullayeva reportedly called the airline and told them that Barakat was ill. This angered the Airbus 330 pilot. In a drunken state, he started violently beating his young wife. After being punched in the head multiple times, the domestic abuse victim ran out of the eight-floor room screaming for help. She had left the defenceless child in the room with her abusive husband.

When police arrived at the hotel, they found Sofia unresponsive. Her injuries were too devastating for her to survive. The police reported that the father had smashed the child's head against the door, leading to her death. According to The Sun, Sofia's skull had been fractured and her brain was "crushed."

Barakat was detained and sent to a prison in Almaty where there had been reports of a COVID-19 outbreak. He has been held there since October, Abdullayeva has not been able to visit her husband since his imprisonment. The hearing of Barakat's case is likely to be delayed due to the COVID-19 lockdown in the country.

Abdullayeva's lawyer Ninel Akhmedzhanova revealed that the grieving mother will testify that the death of her child was an accident. Barakat and his family have accused the police of "gross misconduct." Barakat's lawyers claim that he accidentally fell on the child causing "bilateral compression of the skull." The lawyers stated that there is no evidence proving that their client murdered Sofia and that the police had violated the Kazakhstan criminal procedural law by illegally investigating the room.

The investigation remains on-going.

Child abuse
British pilot, who crushed his child's head against a door, claims her death was accidental. (representational image) iStock