Two young people stabbed to death on Tbilisi outskirts

Two young men were killed in Tsavkisi near Tbilisi after a fight broke out.

The two men, 26-year-old Lexo and 28-year-old David Peikrishvili, were cousins. Two other young people were injured. One of them was operated on, though doctors say there is no threat to his life.

The police have already identified the alleged perpetrators, but they have not yet been arrested.

It is not known exactly what caused the fight. Local residents say that the wounds were caused by sharp weapons.

Eyewitnesses say the alleged killers came to Tsavkisi in three cars and are not local residents.

“Someone got out of the car with a dagger and killed [them]. They say that one person was responsible for killing all of them,” said Temur Doreuli, the father of one of the injured young people, to TV channel Rustavi-2.

The Interior Ministry states that an investigation has been launched looking into premeditated murder by a group under aggravating circumstances.

In 2018 the crime situation in Georgia worsened. Interior Ministry statistics show that in the first 10 months of 2018, 49,057 crimes were recorded compared to 30,659 in 2017 for the same time period.

The statistics also show that the number of crimes solved has decreased: in 2017, 53.56 per cent of cases were brought to a close, while in 2018 this figure decreased to 35.29 per cent.