KHUJAND, September 12, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- A 36-year-old resident of the northern city of Panjakent Jamshed Bobomulloyev faces charge of raping a five-year-old girl in Khujand, the capital of the Sughd province. 

According to the Khujand police department, the Khujand resident applied to the city police department on September 10, saying that her five-year-old granddaughter got lost in the territory of the Panjshanbe market.  The girl was found at the market later and she told police what happened.  

“The 36-year-old resident of Panjakent Jamshed Bobomulloyev was detained on suspicion of having sexually assaulted the girl,” the source said.  

Criminal proceeding have been instituted against Bobomulloyev under the provisions of Article 138, Part 3 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – rape upon reaching the age of 14, and an investigation is under way.