Parents in a north suburban community of Yerevan are concerned about their children’s safety after a schoolboy’s violent death has given rise to rumors about further killings or kidnappings. Ashot Makaryan, 14, an eighth-former of school N 197 in Yerevan’s 9th Nork district was found hanged on September 6 under the “Victory” bridge (in the Hrazdan gorge, some 15 kilometers from his home). According to police information, the boy’s hands were tied, though not tightly.
(Though the boy was found two weeks ago, it was only this week that news of his death began to circulate amid gossip throughout the city. Rumors spread that messages had been attached to the body, and that there had been previous but undisclosed similar cases.)