Kyrgyzstan's populist President Sadyr Japarov has responded to the brutal killing of a 17-year-old schoolgirl by moving to reinstate the death penalty for the rape of children and the rape followed by murder of women.

The killing, thought to have occurred after the victim was strangled and raped in an orchard, has sparked public outrage in the Central Asian country. A storm of anger erupted on social media. Japarov has taken personal control of the investigation into the murder.

The girl’s body was found on September 27 in Boom Gorge in Keminsky District of the northeastern region of Issyk-Kul. A suspect, named only as “A.K.K.” and reported to have previous convictions for robbery and rape, was detained and arraigned before a court. Authorities named the girl as Aisuluu Mukasheva.

Japarov’s decision to order the drafting of a bill for the death penalty reinstatement also comes days after he announced snap parliamentary elections will take place on November 30. The legislature is dominated by parties loyal to Japarov, often described as a populist-nationalist authoritarian.

For two years running, Kyrgyzstan has been assessed as the most dangerous country in Central Asia for women by the global Women, Peace and Security Index.

Kyrgyzstan has officially observed a death penalty moratorium since 2007. The last execution in the country was in 1998.

An explanation of Japarov's move, which may require constitutional changes, was posted on Facebook by his press secretary. The statement said the president of five years’ standing was backing the bill in response to the murder of the girl because he believed that "crimes against women and children must not go unpunished".

Providing more details of the killing given by authorities, Azattyk reported on October 1 that Aisulu M. went missing in Zhety Oguz district, Issyk-Kul region, on September 27 after she left the village of Barskoon to travel to visit a friend's house in Karakol. Contact with her was reportedly lost and her body was subsequently found in the gorge.

The detainee is said to be a 41-year-old resident of Bishkek.

Azattyk wrote: “According to the investigation, Aisulu got into a man's car. He took the girl to an apple orchard, raped her, and then killed her. The detainee confessed to his guilt. The man was previously convicted of robbery and attempted murder.”

Japarov came to power on a wave of protests over alleged irregularities in the ballot counting of the late 2020 parliamentary elections. This week he said the upcoming elections would show his popularity runs to “90%”.

Kyrgyz independent media outlet Kloop reported that in the country of 7.3mn, 20-30 gender-targeted femicides are recorded annually. It said 1,109 women were killed in Kyrgyzstan between 2010 and 2023.

Reuters cited rights group Amnesty International as saying that by the end of 2024, 113 nations had abolished the death penalty, while 1,518 executions were recorded globally last year. They were mostly in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen.