KHUJAND, September 18, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- A court in the Sughd province has sentenced a 33-year-old resident of Khujand to life imprisonment for having sexually assaulted a 5-year-old girl.

The Sughd sentenced the 33-year-old resident of Khujand to life imprisonment on September 16.  The sentence followed his conviction of the charge of rape upon reaching 14 (Article 138, Part 3 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code). 

According to Dadojon Gadoyboyev, a judge with the Sughd regional court, the convict was caught at the scene of crime in one of areas of Khujand. 

It is to be noted that it is not the only such case in Khujand.  As it had been reported earlier, a 36-year-old resident of the northern city of Panjakent Jamshed Bobomulloyev was detained in Khujand on September 10 on suspicion of having raped a five-year-old girl.  

We will recall that 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.  Criminal proceedings have been instituted against Bobomulloyev under the provisions of Article 138, Part 3 and an investigation is under way.