A serviceman of the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan jumped into the Kofarnihon River in the Vahdat district and drowned. The 23-year-old Shahboz Jonmahmadzoda, a resident of Faizobod, joined the army eight months ago and served in the mine-engineering battalion of the Ministry of Defense in the Rudaki district, Radio Ozodi reported.
One of his relatives, in a phone conversation with Ozodi on April 28, citing witnesses, reported that Shahboz handed his mobile phone to a woman passing by and suddenly jumped off the bridge into the river.
“The woman thought he handed her the phone for a photo, and when she saw what was happening, she was very frightened. He said nothing to her. Other passersby were also witnesses. He swam about 500-600 meters in the water but then disappeared under water,” the relative said.
A serviceman from the military unit where Shahboz Jonmakhmadzoda served was also present at the scene, but he refused to speak on the phone with the Ozodi correspondent.
Currently, Shahboz’s relatives and local residents are searching for his body. According to his relatives, the soldier was on a 10-day leave and was supposed to return to duty today, April 28. They also said he complained about poor service conditions and mentioned having kidney pain. On that day, he said he would go to the hospital in Vahdat city for an examination.
Relatives say they do not know why Shahboz decided to take this action—nothing foreshadowed such a development. A year ago, the young man got married, and he has a five-month-old child.
