A 64-year-old Qurbonbi Rahmonova, the sister of Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, died on July 20, according to the Tajik president’s official website.

The Government of Tajikistan extended condolences to Emomali Rahmon, families and friends in connection with the death of Qurbonbi Rahmonova.  

Meanwhile, a source within the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MoHSPP) told Asia-Plus that Qurbonbi Rahmonova had undergone medical treatment for COVID-19 in Dushanbe-based Hospital No 5 (Medgorodok).

A source within the Government of Tajikistan says Qurbonbi Rahmonova was the wife of Kholmumin Safarov, the chief of the Unitary State Enterprise (USE) Jangal va Shikor (government''s forest and hunting agency) under the Committee for Environmental Protection, who was shot to death in Dushanbe in June 2012. 

Recall, president’s mother-in-law Uzbekbi Asadulloyeva died in Dushanbe on July 5, aged 88 after a short illness.

She had been under the supervision of doctors at the Institute of Gastroenterology in Dushanbe, and one of them had previously told Radio Ozodi that Uzbekbi Asadulloyeva had been hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms.