Two Minor Girls Arrested as Giga Avaliani Case Widens
Two teenage girls, Nia Imnadze and Anastasia Beruashvili, were arrested late on August 5 as the prosecution further expanded the circle of minors implicated in the high-profile murder case of 28-year-old tutor Giga Avaliani, who died after spending three weeks in a coma following an assault near his apartment block in Tbilisi in October 2025.
Imnadze, reportedly 16, was arrested at her family’s apartment in a highly emotional scene. In a video captured by her lawyer, her parents are seen verbally confronting police officers as they dispute the allegations against their daughter, while officers said they were acting on a court order. Imnadze was reportedly hospitalized shortly afterward and transferred to a temporary detention cell the following afternoon.
Imnadze and Beruashvili are reportedly the girlfriends of Aleksandre Gabashvili and Giorgi Rikadze, respectively, two main defendants in Avaliani’s case, who were sentenced in April to 14 years in prison each after being found guilty of “intentional infliction of serious harm to health resulting in death.” As they were minors at the time of the crime, their sentences were automatically reduced to ten years and six months.
The Prosecutor General’s Office announced charges against Imnadze and Beruashvili late on August 6.
Imnadze was charged with “abetting intentional infliction of serious harm to health by a group” under Article 25-117 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, carrying a sentence of up to 13 years in prison. According to prosecutors, Imnadze, who was Avaliani’s pupil, told her friends, including Gabashvili, that Avaliani “was paying her too much attention.”
“Through her actions, the defendant [Nia Imnadze] incited Aleksandre Gabashvili to attack Giga Avaliani together with his accomplices,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said. Avaliani’s family has long alleged that Imnadze, as Gabashvili’s girlfriend, was a key figure in initiating the attack.
Beruashvili, meanwhile, was charged with “failure to report a particularly serious crime” under Article 376. According to prosecutors, “immediately after committing the crime,” Rikadze contacted Beruashvili and informed her about the group attack on Avaliani and the injuries he sustained as a result.
“Although Anastasia Beruashvili was aware of the particularly serious crime committed against Giga Avaliani, she did not report it to law enforcement authorities.”
Five minors in the case have already been sentenced to multiple years in prison, while several more, including the son of former Deputy Interior Minister Merab Malania, remain on trial. The widening of the prosecution follows months-long efforts by Avaliani’s mother, Eka Kupatadze, to hold everyone she believes responsible for her son’s death accountable.
“Georgia has won another battle against the murderers of Giga Avaliani, a healthy, innocent, genius young doctor!” Kupatadze wrote on Facebook following the latest arrests.
Both girls’ families have rejected the allegations, while their lawyers have described the charges as “absurd.”
Last updated on August 6 at 22:55.
Also Read:
- 07/07/2026 – Minor With ‘Fascist-Nazi’ Ideology Sentenced to 14.5 Years for Organized Group Torture, Violence, Prosecutors Say
- 02/06/2026 – Three More Prison Sentences Handed Down in Murder Case of Teacher Giga Avaliani
- 08/04/2026 – Three Minors Sentenced to Multiple Years in Prison in Murder Case of Teacher Giga Avaliani
- 09/01/2026 – Family of Killed Teacher Questions Probe, Seeks Tougher Charges, Prosecutor’s Resignation