In Khatlon province, authorities have instituted criminal proceedings against a 48-year-old woman in the Jayhoun district on suspicion of subjecting her daughter-in-law to prolonged abuse that allegedly led to the young woman’s suicide, the Interior Ministry reported.
According to investigators, the woman had regularly beaten and humiliated her 23-year-old daughter-in-law since 2019, inflicting both physical and psychological suffering. On September 8, 2025, the young woman reportedly took her own life by ingesting vinegar after being unable to endure the sustained pressure.
The criminal proceedings have been instituted under Article 109 (q) of Tajikistan’s Criminal Code — driving a person to suicide, which carries a penalty of three to five years in prison if convicted.
The case comes amid heightened public attention to domestic abuse and suicide-related crimes in Tajikistan.
Earlier, a court in the northern Sughd province handed down a verdict in a high-profile case involving the suicide of a minor.
Aziza Ustoboboyeva, a resident of the Spitamen district, was sentenced to five years in a high-security penal colony for driving a 16-year-old girl — identified as Sughdiyona T., the girlfriend of her son — to suicide. The teenager was found hanged in June of this year.
Relatives of the deceased said the woman had subjected the girl to psychological pressure and threatened to expose her relationship with her son in the days leading up to the tragedy.
The defendant, however, claimed she had been attempting to prevent what she viewed as harmful consequences of the relationship.
According to data from the Prosecutor General’s Office, 259 women and girls in Tajikistan died by suicide or attempted to take their own lives in 2024, including minors. Psychologists link such cases to intense social and family pressure, particularly on adolescents, as well as a lack of emotional support from adults.
