The Supreme Court of Tajikistan has reviewed criminal proceedings instituted against a 43-year-old resident of Hisor district Husniddin Abdulloyev, who raped a 12-year-old neighbor girl, and sentenced him to 12 years in prison, Asia-Plus learned from the “Tashabbusi Huquqi” (Legal Initiative) Public Foundation, which provided the injured party with a defense lawyer.

Husniddin Abdulloyev, who raped the 12-year-old neighbor girl, who is his first cousin, in 2019 was sentenced to five years in prison last year and was released by amnesty the same year.

He stood trial not for rape but for sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16, though he even threatened the girl with death.

A court in the city of Hisor sentenced Husniddin Abdulloyev to five years in prison on December 9, 2020, but later, he was released by amnesty. 

The defense does not agree with the verdict and appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court reviewed the case and sentenced Abdulloyev to 12 years in prison on November 10, 2021.

The sentence reportedly followed his conviction on charges of raping a victim knowingly under the age of fourteen or a close relative (Article 138 (3) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code). 

Recall, the Social-Democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDPT) leader, Rahmatillo Zoyirov, wrote about this incident on his Facebook page on June 17, 2020.  SDPT leader noted in his open letter to the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor-General’s Office that the 12-year-old girl from the Somon jamoat was raped by her 42-year-old neighbor in 2019.

“The 42-year-old H.A. last year raped the 12-year-old neighbor girl in a cow-shed.  Threatening the girl and using her helpless state, he did this several times," Zoyirov wrote.

According to him, when the girl’s parents found out about that, “H.A. by threats kept them from submitting an application [to the law enforcement authorities].”

“When it turned out that the girl is pregnant, the parents went to the prosecutor’s office and police department in Hisor to complain about the rapist neighbor, but they didn’t accept the application.  Moreover, covering the rapist, they threatened [the parents] with grave consequences.”

According to Zoyirov, the girl gave birth to the child in April 2020, and there was pressure on the girl and her parents “in order to solve everything peacefully and without consequences.”

SDPT leader asked the Prosecutor-General’s Office and the Interior Ministry to take the case under their control so that the rapist would be punished. 

The girl’s uncle told Asia-Plus that Husniddin Abdulloyev has tried to pay them off.  “He offered us 10,000 somonis so that we take back our complaint filed in the prosecutor’s office but we refused.  Abdulloyev then began to threaten us through his friends,” the man said.

“Since local police station and prosecutor’s office have ignored our applications, we have been forced to apply to the Interior Ministry, the Prosecutor-General’s Office and the public.  Only after that, we have been invited to the Interior Ministry Criminal Investigation Directorate to testify,” the girl’s uncle noted.

According to him, the case was sent for investigation to the Hisor prosecutor’s office and Husniddin Abdulloyev was taken into custody.