A 28-Year-Old Man Had His Finger Crushed with a Hammer, But It Was Not Completely Severed: Details

On August 21, 2024, at 14:10, a report was received from a 28-year-old resident of Goris, Syunik Province, regarding being held against his will, receiving threats, being beaten, and sustaining injuries. The Investigative Committee has reported this case.

In response to the report, a criminal case was initiated in the investigative division of the Arabkir administrative district of the RA Investigative Committee under Articles 191, 196, and 456 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia. The 28-year-old man has been recognized as a victim and has provided testimony regarding the incident.

According to the investigation, the victim met a girl through a chatroom named "With Armenians" on the Telegram application, which led to an unpleasant conversation between her and a 27-year-old resident of Meghri community. The latter, along with two other individuals, planned to retaliate against the 28-year-old due to the previous unpleasant conversation, intending to deceitfully take him to another location against his will.

The girl who had met the victim through the Telegram application, who turned out to be one of the two accomplices of the aforementioned 27-year-old, deceitfully invited the 28-year-old to a rented apartment, supposedly to meet with her boyfriend and friends.

On the day of the incident, August 20, around 22:00, the young man went to the apartment located on Vagarshyan Street in Yerevan, which was indicated by the girl; the aforementioned resident of Meghri was also present there. After entering the apartment, the individuals locked the door and began to assault and physically abuse the 28-year-old, yelling profanities at him and kicking him in different parts of his body for several hours.

They then took the victim's documents, bank card, cash, and other belongings, demanding between 50,000-100,000 AMD for their return. Continuing their criminal actions, they dragged the young man across the living room of the apartment and threatened him with knives, saying that if he screamed, they would hurt him. In particular, the 27-year-old threatened to cut either his ear or finger. Following this, he struck the victim's wrist and leg with a hammer, and to muffle the victim’s screams, he tied a cloth around his mouth. Subsequently, he placed a knife on the victim's index finger and hit the knife with a hammer, but the finger was not completely severed.

Around 06:00, leaving the victim in the apartment, the individuals fled, taking the victim’s mobile phone and family photos, threatening that if he informed anyone about the incident, they would treat his family the same way.

Based on the evidence collected during the investigation, public criminal charges have been brought against the 27-year-old, and a decision has been made to arrest him. As a result of operational-search measures carried out by the law enforcement officers of the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs, the 27-year-old was arrested days later, on August 28, 2024, and presented to the prosecuting authority.

He has been charged under Article 191 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, among others. A request has been made to the court to apply detention as a preventive measure, which has been granted. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing, and measures are being taken to locate the other two accomplices involved in the crime. Relevant instructions have been given to the police department.

Notice: The accused is considered innocent until proven guilty by a legally binding court judgment in accordance with the procedure established by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia.