Last February, the Tashkent Police Department reported it arrested a man who, while intoxicated, harassed a schoolboy on bus route 98.
The boy managed to video-record the incident. The footage shows 37-year-old Kh. G. telling the 13-year-old that he's in love, touching him, and attempting to kiss him. The boy tries to get up several times, but is unable to do so. He calls for help from the driver, but it takes a while for the driver to hear. When the driver stops the bus, the man insults the boy and gets out.
The Chilanzar District Criminal Court stated that the man had taken advantage of the fact that the bus was empty. In court, he pleaded guilty and expressed remorse. He said he had been drunk and didn't remember his actions, and asked for a lenient sentence.
The court found Kh. G. guilty of committing indecent acts against a person under 16 years of age, using violence or threats (Article 129, Section 3 of the Criminal Code, punishable with 5 to 8 years in prison). He was sentenced to 6 years in a general regime penal colony.
Kh. G., a native of Jizzakh province, had previously been prosecuted four times by provincial courts:
- In October 2012, he was sentenced to 3 years of correctional labor on charges of extortion.
- In March 2013, he received a 3.5-year sentence for attempted rape, but in October of that year, the court commuted the sentence to a more lenient one—correctional labor with 30% of his salary withheld for the state for the remaining 1.5 years of his sentence.
- In June 2014, the court sentenced him to 4.5 years in prison for theft.
- In February 2019, he was sentenced to one year of restricted freedom for violating administrative supervision rules. In November of that year, he was paroled from serving the remaining three months and 20 days of his sentence.
Recently, the President Mirizyoyev approved the 2026 state program, including an item for tougher penalties for violence against women and children, and a life imprisonment for pedophilia. Legislative changes are expected to be drafted within a year.
