A regional court in the northern Sughd province has sentenced a young man to 24 years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend after she refused his marriage proposal. This was reported by the press service of the Interior Ministry’s Office in Sughd province in the program "Police Reports."
The 20-year-old man was arrested in September on suspicion of brutally killing his 19-year-old girlfriend, who was his lover.
According to the authorities, the young man, a resident of the Zafarobod district, was found guilty under Article 104 (2) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code — murder with particular cruelty.
The suspect, Shahboz Nourulloyev, is said to have stabbed his fiancée, Charos Asrorova, 16 times. To conceal the crime, he then doused her body with gasoline and set it on fire.
The opinions of the suspect, his relatives, and defense attorney regarding the verdict are not yet known.
Femicide is unfortunately not uncommon in Tajikistan. Earlier this year, in August, the police in Sughd province reported the death of a 21-year-old woman, who was killed by her 17-year-old boyfriend.
Femicide is the killing of a woman by a man motivated by gender discrimination or gender-based violence. The overwhelming majority of femicides are committed by intimate male partners.
According to the Sughd regional prosecutor's office, there were 10 murders registered in the area during the first half of 2025. In total, Tajikistan reported 28 cases of murder and attempted murder over the same six-month period.
