A trial of two men charged with killing two young women with extreme cruelty has begun in Dushanbe. 

The Dushanbe city court is considering criminal proceedings instituted against Doniyor Safarov and Sadullo Raoupov under the provisions of Article 104 (2) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – murder.

The deputy head of the Dushanbe city court, Asomiddin Bobokhonzoda says a trial verdict for them is expected to be declared in late December. 

According to him, Safarov and Raoupov face imprisonment for up to 20 years with confiscation of property or life imprisonment with confiscation of property   

In mid-September, police found bodies of two young women in the area near the Kharangon village in Varzob district.  They were identified as the 31-year-old Zarifamo Haidarova and the 18-year-old Mehrafrouz Kholmirzo.  

Zarifamo Haidarova had been reported missing since January 2018 and Mehrafrouz Kholmirzo had been reported missing since April 2020.

Doniyor Safarov and Sadullo Raoupov were detained on suspicion of committing those murders. 

The preliminary investigation has reportedly established that Safarov had a close relationship with Zarifamo Haidarova.  In January 2018, he reportedly beat the women out of jealousy and then together with his friend Sadullo Raoupov threw her in the trunk of a car and took to the area near the Kharangon village, where they beat her again and smothered her to death.  

In April 2020, Sadullo Raupov took Mehrafrouz Kholmirzo to Varzob district and offered her intimacy.  Having been refused, he beat the woman and then took her to the scene of the first crime, where he smothered her to death.