DUSHANBE, April 27, 2016, Asia-Plus – Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reports Savsan Jonova, a single mother of two who was left without a roof over her head after her divorce 15 years ago, lives in a mosque -- an unregistered prayer house that was taken away from the believers who built it and given to her by authorities in the southern city of Kulob.

But Jonova’s neighbors -- at least the ones who built the house of worship in 2014 -- are not so happy.

While they acknowledge building the mosque without official permission, they see the government’s move as an affront -- and have made that abundantly clear to the newcomer.

While many in Khati Roh declined to comment, a 60-year-old man who chipped in to build the mosque said that he and others were “extremely angry,” particularly when authorities first moved Jonova into the building.

The man, who did not want his name published, said some “furious” residents would throw stones in the direction of Jonova when she passed by -- aiming not to hit her but to make clear that she and her family were not welcome.

Jonova told RFE/RL that her neighbors have given her “no peace and quiet” since she moved in earlier this year.

In addition to what she described as verbal attacks, she alleges that neighbors once cut the power lines to the building, prompting her to file a complaint with prosecutors.

“They come in groups every now and then, demanding that I pay for water pipes or a transformer they had installed here,” she said.

The Khati Roh prayer house is among dozens of so-called unregistered mosques that officials in Kulob have closed down in recent months.

Seven of them have been given to homeless families, while others are now being used as community centers, teahouses, and the like -- an echo of the Soviet era when the communist government turned houses of worship into warehouses and barns.

In Khovaling district, adjacent to Khati Roh, five unregistered mosques were recently given to five low-income families who had been sharing a single, small home.

Tajik authorities have shut down hundreds of unregistered mosques across the country in the past decade.

There are 3,930 officially registered mosques in Tajikistan -- most of them simple one-story buildings with no minarets.

Authorities in Kulob say they have since closed down 54 unregistered prayer houses.

Jonova, 45, says she is thrilled to own a home and has no intention of moving out, whatever the neighbors say or do.

She has moved the family''s belongings -- not much more than a few cushions, an old television set, and a hot plate -- into the former mosque, which consists of a single large room and a corridor.

Jonova plans to “slightly change the inside of the building,” where she lives with her 24-year-old son.  Her daughter, who is older, is married and lives elsewhere.

After her own marriage ended in divorce, Jonova and her children had no place to live.  Before moving to the former mosque, Jonova lived for six years in the regional office of the Communist Party, of which she is a member.