A popular transgender and influencer, Kesaria Abramidze, has been tragically stabbed to death in Georgia.
The 37-year-old was killed just one day after the country passed a new law banning LGBTQ+ propaganda.
The brutal attack, which occurred in Abramidze’s home in Tbilisi, resulted in over 50 stab wounds. A 26-year-old male suspect, Beka Jaiani, was apprehended at the city’s airport attempting to flee the country.
He is believed to have been known to Abramidze. CCTV footage allegedly shows him waiting near the lift in Abramidze’s apartment building and then running down the stairs shortly afterward.
Abramidze, a well-known figure in Georgia, underwent a sex change operation in 2014. He represented Georgia at Miss Trans Star International in 2018 and had a significant online following.
Georgia’s President, Salome Zurabishvili, who opposes the new anti-LGBTQ+ laws, responded to Abramidze’s murder with a statement condemning the “terrible crime” and calling for a more humane and Christian society.
Abramidze’s killing is the third high-profile murder of a transgender woman in Georgia in recent years. The country’s recent passage of anti-LGBTQ+ laws, mirrors similar legislation in Russia.
