KULOB, April 3, Asia-Plus — The Kulob prosecutor’s office has completed criminal proceedings instituted against Erkamo Qurbonova, who faces charge of preventing her daughter from attending school, and the case moved to a court on April 2, Asia-Plus has learned from Murod Mirzomatov, an investigator with the Kulob prosecutor’s office.
According to him, formal charges have been brought against Ms. Qurbonova under Article 164 of the country’s Criminal Code – preventing person from getting compulsory nine-year education.
“Erkamo Qurbonova says that her daughter has not attended school for financial reasons; they allegedly could not afford to send her to school,” said the investigator, “However, this allegation is unfounded because she managed to create conditions for her son for studies.”
Similar case has also been reported in the village of Korezi Poyon in the Kulob district, Mirzomatov said. “Of three children of Shaydullo Karimov, his two sons attend school while his 6th grade daughter stays at home.” The investigator said that criminal proceedings had been instituted against Karimov and the case will move to a court within the next few days.
Specialists say that the collapse of the Soviet Union and the civil war in Tajikistan have made girl children particularly vulnerable. During the civil war, parents married off their young daughters in order to protect them from kidnapping. But after the war, many impoverished parents in the countryside could not afford to send their daughters to school and many girls in rural areas have dropped out of the school. NGOs have raised the issue and authorities are taking measures to return girls to the school.
