by Gvantsa Nadibaidze

It’s been two years since Ghvtiso Nadibaidze and his family left their previous house and moved into a different one in Tamarisi village, Marneuli region.

The family made this decision after Nadibaidze’s daughter Manana Nadibaidze, 17, was killed in their house on March 19, 2014.

Iago Tsiklauri, 51, raped her when she was alone at home, and to hide the crime burned the body.

Tsiklauri was Nadibaidze’s family’s neighbor. Ghvtiso Nadibaidze said they very often helped each other.

As he remembered, on that day all family members went to plant potatoes, except for his daughter, who stayed at home alone to make dinner and do homework.

During this period Tsiklauri went to the Nadibaidze home and asked her to help warm some water in the bathroom to wash hands.

“When my daughter was doing dinner and homework, very often she answered phone late or not all," her father said.

"I was calling her and she didn’t answer, but I didn’t get nervous, I thought she was doing something.

“But when we came back home, the bathroom was a mess and there was blood on the wall. And my daughter wasn’t at home.”

The offender also left a letter written in the victim’s name that she had got married.

But Nadibaidze’s teacher recognized that it wasn’t her handwriting, and professional expertise later comfirmed it.

The family went to the police.

Ghvtiso Nadibaidze says Tsiklauri was with them and helped him to ask questions.

Tsiklauri had some scars on his hands and face.

Nadibaidze said his daughter physically was very strong, and it appeared that his daughter was fighting.

“When we were at police station, my older son asked Tsiklauri why he had some scars on his face and also on his hands.

He told us that he hurt himself while he was helping a neighbor collect wood. We didn’t have even any doubts about his version” -- Nadibaidze said.

After several hours, police started searching neighbor's houses.

Dogs very quickly found bloody T-shirts at Tsiklauri’s home, and then Manana Nadibaidze’s burned body in the garden.

Tsiklauri pleaded guilty to charges of premeditated murder, article 109, part II, sub-paragraph B of the Criminal Code, which includes murder under aggravating circumstances of a minor or a helpless person knowingly by the offender.

Tsiklauri was sentenced to 16 years.

Sexual abuse is still a big problem in Georgia.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 300 cases of sexual crimes were committed in the first nine months of 2018. They reported 257 cases in 2017 and 336 in 2016.

Because of the increase, the Ministry created a special draft law for persons convicted of sex crimes.

According to deputy minister Natia Mezvrishvili, stricter regulations would include a life sentence for pedophiles.

Convicted prisoners would not be able to work at educational centers and there would be special data bases which would be maintained by the government.

“We are working on preventing cases of sexual abuse against adolescents, as statistical indicators have increased.

This is mainly due to the increase in calling to police.

For more and more adolescents, their family member, teacher, or psychologist calls police.

It is a positive tendency.

This means that awareness has increased,” said Mezvrishvili during a press conference on February 25.

This law will soon be sent to Parliament for discussion.