A married couple in Fergana who attempted to sell their newborn baby have been sentenced to five years in prison each.
The woman had met her husband in the city of Kokand in October 2024, and the two entered into a religious (nikah) marriage without either of their families' knowledge. Conflicts and disputes arose between them during their time living together. In October 2025, they had a son.
Shortly before the incident, the husband had come to Fergana for work. He brought his wife and child along, and the family lived together for several days. Citing financial hardship and marital discord, the couple decided to sell the baby.
"I'd had an argument with my dad around that time. He told me to get out of the house with my child — it was a serious fight. That's when I left with my son," the woman told the court.
She said a woman had approached her with the offer to sell the baby, telling her the child would live in good conditions, and she agreed. When she told her husband, there was a fierce argument at first, but he eventually agreed, and the two decided to divorce. She had planned to use the money to pay off debts.
"My husband and I had already agreed on it. I had a loan of about 6 million [soums]. My husband — I mean my partner — also had debts. It was meant to pay those off. Then my mother was in Turkey, and I wanted to go work with her and build myself a house. I had some businesses going, too. I was going to invest the money into that," said the defendant, who is not yet 20 years old.
Both defendants were found guilty under the relevant part of Article 135 of the Criminal Code (Human trafficking) and sentenced to five years' imprisonment each.
The sentence involving imprisonment was handed down pending a decision on the fate of the minor child. Responsibility for the child's protection has been assigned to the Kokand City Human Social Protection Agency and the city administration's child protection division.
In April, an 18-year-old girl in Bukhara was caught trying to sell her three-day-old newborn for $4,000. In May, a mother in Tashkent attempted to sell her 3-year-old daughter for $10,000.
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