A former government minister has been seized by police in Kazakhstan, accused of beating his wife to death in a five-star restaurant before calmly finishing his meal.

Horrified diners watched former economy minister Kuandyk Bishimbayev bludgeon his 31-year-old partner mercilessly at the eaterie in Astana on 9th November.

Bishimbayev, 43, and wife Saltanat Nukenova had been on a romantic night out when they suddenly began arguing, reports local media.

Witnesses say the former minister knocked his wife to the ground and pinned her there while he battered her until she stopped moving.

Restaurant workers called paramedics who declared her dead and called in police.

An initial forensic report found that Saltanat had died from blunt force trauma to the head.

The victim’s sister, who was not named, told local media: “No one from our family was at the restaurant.

“Kuandyk’s brother was present there. I saw him at Salta’s wedding. He was always with Kuandyk.

“Salta and Kuandyk were in the restaurant for hours.

“When the ambulance arrived, her body was already cold — I was informed about it at the local police department on the day of her death.”

Bishimbayev, a former top-ranking official in his country’s government, allegedly has a history of violence towards his wife.

The two had only been married for a year and to outsiders, seemed like a perfect match.

But family members claimed Bishimbaev was insanely jealous of his wife, and prohibited her from working and even seeing her relatives.

She reportedly tried to leave him on several occasions but each time he would apologise and swear that the abuse would stop.

Bishimbaev already has a criminal record, according to local media.

In 2018, he was sentenced to ten years in prison for bribery but was conditionally released shortly afterwards.

Now, Saltanat’s relatives fear the politician will wriggle off the legal hook again because of his pull in government.

Her sister said: “There wasn’t a spot on her body that was spared.

“We have photos and videos of the body. If you saw them, you would have no doubts that this is an extremely cruel murder.

“I want a thorough investigation and not to attempt to whitewash the brutal violence against my little sister.”

The investigation is ongoing.