In the Vose district of Khatlon province, law enforcement officers detained a man suspected of raping and murdering a minor, the Interior Ministry’s official website reports.
According to the investigation, on April 29, the body of a 10-year-old girl was found in agricultural lands with signs of violent death.
Khairiddin Qurbonali, born in 1991, a resident of the Boboshohiyon jamoat of the Vose district, has been detained on suspicion of committing the crime.
According to the agency, the suspect took advantage of the minor’s helpless state and committed the crime in a deserted place when the girl was returning from school.
According to the preliminary conclusion of the forensic medical examination, the cause of death was mechanical asphyxia (suffocation).
Criminal proceedings hve been instituted against the detainee under Article 104 (2) of Tajikistan’s Criminal Code — murder under aggravating circumstances; an investigation isunder way.
Under this article, he faces a penalty ranging from 15 years of imprisonment to life imprisonment.
Earlier a court in Dushanbe’s Firdavsi district found 40-year-old Vladimir Shestov guilty of raping and murdering a minor and sentenced him to 29 years in prison.
According to the Prosecutor-General’s Office of the Republic of Tajikistan, the crime was committed on February 28: the man, in a state of alcoholic intoxication, raped and then strangled the minor girl who was in his apartment.
The body was hidden in the premises and discovered only 10 days later—on March 9 in an apartment on Kakhhorova Street in the Firdavsi District.
What is the punishment for rape?
In Tajikistan, cases of rape are generally very rarely disclosed, and the facts are often hidden by the victims’ relatives themselves. The criminal legislation of Tajikistan includes 4 articles providing for liability for sexual actions against minors:
According to Article 138 “Rape,” a punishment of 7 to 12 years of imprisonment is provided, in case of recidivism—from 12 to 25 years.
Article 139 “Violent acts of a sexual nature” implies a prison term of 7 to 10 years.
Unlawful acts against minors are regulated by article 141 “Sexual intercourse and other actions of a sexual nature with a person under 16 years.” It provides for a punishment of 2 to 10 years of imprisonment.
Article 142 “Indecent acts” provides for a punishment of 2 to 5 years of imprisonment.
