British airline captain is accused of killing his baby daughter

A British airline captain is accused of killing his baby daughter in a drunken rage by banging her head against the walls of a five-star hotel in Kazakhstan. 

Airbus 330 pilot Mohamed Barakat, 41, allegedly beat his young wife before fatally injuring his one-year-old child Sofia after an all-night drinking session. 

Barakat was detained and charged after his distraught Kazakh wife Madina Abdullayeva, 22, ran into the lobby of Almaty’s five-star Intercontinental Hotel ‘screaming for help’. 

He faces up to 20 years in jail for murder but claims the case against him has been ‘fabricated’ by police in Almaty.

British airline pilot Mohamed Barakat, pictured with his Kazakh wife Madina Abdullayeva, is accused of killing his one-year-old daughter in a drunken rage 

Barakat is accused of attacking his wife and then fatally injuring his daughter at the five-star Intercontinental hotel in Almaty, Kazakhstan (pictured)

Barakat is accused of attacking his wife and then fatally injuring his daughter at the five-star Intercontinental hotel in Almaty, Kazakhstan (pictured) 

Barakat allegedly attacked his daughter after returning to the hotel room from a drinking session at 7am, prompting his wife to call his airline to say he was ‘ill’.

The call to Hong Kong Airlines ‘enraged’ the pilot who began punching his wife, prosecutors claim. 

The newly-revealed indictment alleges that Barakat repeatedly punched his wife on the head before she escaped into the corridor.   

Sofia awoke because of her parents’ fight and the pilot then turned his fury on the one-year-old, a British citizen, according to a report by Astana TV.

‘He walked to the baby’s cot, took his daughter Sofia in his hands and forcefully hit the walls and doors of the hotel room with her head,’ says the court indictment.

‘Having made sure Sofia Barakat was not displaying signs of life, he put her on the floor by the entrance door of the hotel room.’

Forensic experts found that the child suffered multiple injuries and had no chance of survival.

Her skull was fractured and her brain had been ‘crushed’, a virtual court hearing was told.  

Barakat appeared in a video-link court hearing (he is pictured bottom left) where it was claimed that his daughter's skull had been fractured and her brain 'crushed'

Barakat appeared in a video-link court hearing (he is pictured bottom left) where it was claimed that his daughter’s skull had been fractured and her brain ‘crushed’ 

However, Barakat’s family in England claim he has faced ‘injustice, corruption and illegal investigation’ in Kazakhstan.

‘The case is fabricated,’ said his lawyers in a statement ahead of a further hearing which is expected to be delayed after a new coronavirus lockdown in Kazakhstan.

‘There is no undisputed and substantiated evidence in the criminal case to prove his guilt for the death of his only child.’

Lawyer Tair Nazkhanov said: ‘The forensic examination reports indicated that there were no fingerprints and DNA from Mohamed on the child’s body, which means that he did not even touch the child that day.

‘The Almaty Police Department inspected the hotel room with gross violations of the Kazakhstan criminal procedural law.’

A blood sample found in the luxury hotel room ‘did not end up belonging to the child’, it is claimed.  

Barakat was detained and charged after his distraught wife ran into the Intercontinental hotel lobby (pictured) 'screaming for help'

Barakat was detained and charged after his distraught wife ran into the Intercontinental hotel lobby (pictured) ‘screaming for help’

Barakat’s lawyers will demand that the case be sent back to the state prosecutor for further examination, claiming the police ignored other explanations as to how the child died.

A previous set of defence lawyers had suggested that Barakat had accidentally fallen on the child. 

Barakat’s wife is ‘in contact’ with her husband but was earlier banned from seeing him, say sources close to the case.

No visits to inmates in the 1,000-capacity jail – where there is a feared outbreak of coronavirus – have been permitted during the Covid-19 crisis. Barakat has been held since October.

A legal representative for Madina had earlier said: ‘During the incident she was not in the room.

‘The couple quarrelled and she ran out into the corridor. She does not know whether Mohamed intentionally harmed the child or not.

‘We are waiting for the results of the examination.’

The lawyer said: ‘Madina is in contact with Mohamed and she has no desire to jail him at any price.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk