Uzbekistan pushes harsher penalties for child abuse, sparking death-penalty debate in Central Asia
After a kindergarten administrator in Namangan was arrested for repeatedly raping a five-year-old, Uzbekistan’s parliament approved life-imprisonment sentences and revived calls to bring back the death penalty.
A 52-year-old head of a kindergarten in Uzbekistan’s Namangan province was detained for repeatedly raping a five-year-old girl, igniting public outrage. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s eldest daughter, Saida Mirziyoyeva, used her Telegram platform to demand the death penalty for the offender, a stance echoed by deputy speaker Alisher Qodirov of the Milli Tiklanish party. Meanwhile, Shahnoza Mirziyoyeva, first deputy director of the National Agency for Social Protection, announced support services for the victim and highlighted months-long work on tougher legislation.
The Oliy Majlis approved a bill imposing life imprisonment for crimes against children and sent it to the Senate, which passed it on October 2; only the president’s signature remains. The episode has revived discussion of reinstating capital punishment, a policy already being debated in Kyrgyzstan after a brutal rape-murder, suggesting a possible shift in Central Asian criminal law.
Why it matters
The story signals a possible reversal of death-penalty abolition in Central Asia amid growing outrage over child sexual violence.
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