Official Allegedly Struck Minor’s Nape, Assaulted: Aravot

On March 30, Armen Benjaminian from the village of Sers in the Vayk community alerted the police, stating that Gevorg Simonyan, the head of the Areni community and chairman of the guardianship and supervision committee, had struck his minor son on the nape, while his ex-wife's brother, contract soldier Edik Manukyan, subjected him to physical assault, delivering blows to his head.

A criminal case has been initiated based on the report.

Gevorg Simonyan, chairman of the guardianship and supervision committee, told Aravot.am that Benjaminian is known for his affection towards alcohol, and years ago, while under the influence, he caused an accident that killed his wife and small child who were both in the vehicle with him. “Two years ago, he was drunk behind the wheel, causing an accident that resulted in the death of his wife, who was holding their 5-year-old child at the time. The child died on the spot, and the wife, who was pregnant, also lost that baby and only survived by a miracle. After that incident, the husband forced his wife out of the house and is solely raising their two school-age boys,” Simonyan said.

Simonyan relayed that the incident occurred while organizing a meeting for the boys with their mother at the administrative head’s office. On that day, according to Simonyan, Benjaminian was again drunk, provoked a fight, and broke his earlier promise in court not to disrupt the meeting between the children and their mother.

Despite having assured the court he would not interfere with the meeting, Benjaminian repeatedly hurried the children, claiming he had somewhere to go. He ultimately unleashed a stream of vulgar insults before getting into a confrontation with his ex-wife’s brother, which also involved his school-age son responding with insults and hits.

“These children are completely under their father’s influence; let me tell you, they weren’t particularly happy to meet their mother. When I saw how the child was attacking his uncle, I held him back and whispered in his ear, ‘Your mother is here.’ The uncle was hit so many times by the father and son that he sustained head injuries and was bleeding from the head. A criminal investigation has been launched; let the investigation determine if I hit anyone or not. Or who bears what fault,” he said.

Armen Benjaminian, in an interview with the news outlet, stated he had visited the forensic doctor that day. According to him, the doctor recorded that his entire face and eyes were bruised. He insisted that Simonyan was lying about not striking his son, claiming that the boy had been grabbed and then struck on the nape, and also mentioned being assaulted.

“For two days, my child’s eyes were red from headaches… They hit me too, damn it, who is it that beat my child?” He also countered the claims about alcohol dependency by stating that it was his ex-wife who was the alcoholic, noting that she had drunk vodka from bottles. Besides alleged alcoholism, he claimed she has mental health issues and has been receiving treatment for a year.

According to Benjaminian, the ex-wife attempted to feed their children by mixing her medications into jam, but the mother prevented it. “Look, I’ve left them all well enough alone… if they apologize, I couldn't care less; it will pass. But if I see any abuse, I will go to court to demand child support, so they will know to keep their mouths shut,” Benjaminian concluded.